It's A Mental Battle
by BookwormBudgie
Summary: A friend. A helper. A fighter. A strength. Now Bobbi is forced to take a backseat after she is injured. She's going to need the support of her teammates more than ever. After all, it's not Bobbi Morse the agent that fell in battle, it's Bobbi Morse - the agent that battled the fall.
1. Impact

Chapter 1 - Impact

Enjoy.

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"We're coming in 3, 2…" Bobbi heard Lance's voice in her ear just a second before he, Skye, and May burst through the doors of the warehouse. The men were startled enough to hesitate in their movements, giving enough time for the agents to take the advantage. The gunshots didn't take long to appear and before long there was a full-on fight taking place.

One man tried to make a run for it but was caught easily by May who took them down with a swift kick to the jaw. He struggled against her hold on his neck before falling limp and allowing May to move on to another target. Meanwhile, Skye and Lance were working together on a larger scale of opponents, their movements proving their training together had paid off. In no time they had eliminated over half of them using only basic hand to hand combat.

Bobbi was busy with one particular man. The 'ringleader' of the group they were tracking to be specific. He was clearly more agile than the others as he countered each move she made with his own, the two being an even match. She attempted to swing at his jaw with one hand and slide the other towards his ribs but he saw it coming and slid out of her grasp to reply to her hit with one to her jaw. Disorientated, Bobbi couldn't grab the man as he ran out of the warehouse, the other agents oblivious. There was no other option but to try her best to chase him down herself but the knock to her head was forceful enough to hinder her ability. Setting off at a reasonable pace, Lance turned around just in time to see the back of her disappear.

"Bobbi!" He shouted after her but she didn't falter in her strides. Skye and May looked to Lance in confusion but when they realised Bobbi was missing, May led the way to follow.

Outside, Bobbi was hot on the trail of the man whose speed didn't match his fighting skill at all. He'd made it to his getaway vehicle and the engine was already going as Bobbi caught up. A panicked look flickered across his face as he saw she was still there, his foot desperately pressing the pedal causing the car to start moving. Bobbi grabbed onto the back of the vehicle and managed to manoeuvre herself into the back of the vehicle that luckily had an unlocked door. She vaguely heard voices behind her as she swung the door closed but had no time to look back now.

"What are you doing? Get out of my car!" The man exclaimed as she appeared next to him in the passenger seat. Bobbi shook her head,

"I'm not _that_ much of an idiot."

The car picked up speed as they travelled along an open straight when Bobbi realised his plan.

"You can't do this," Bobbi insisted, "Hey, slow down!"

They swerved to avoid the curb as the man made the mistake of looking in his rear view mirror, seeing the S.H.I.E.L.D cars following and getting a little freaked out. A part of Bobbi felt sorry for the guy as he most likely only wanted the money from the job that had all changed now he didn't want to face the consequences of his actions. But she also knew that she was a trained agent and couldn't let her emotions come through at such a crucial point.

"You should never have gotten in here. Got yourself involved in something bigger now," He spat as if he was angry she was on a death route with him.

"Maybe you could just stop and let me out then, hey?"

The man chuckled darkly, "I'm not that much of an idiot, either."

Bobbi could only sit back and put her seatbelt on, regret flowing through her veins at her brainless thinking. The grassland flew past the window, making it more real to Bobbi of the fact that they were travelling at such a speed on this type of road. She turned her head back to the man whose jaw was tense and eyes held a spark of worry in them.

"What are you waiting for? A truck to come storming through? A rock in the road to cause an 'accident'?" She questioned.

"I need an escape. Driving as fast as this will guarantee me one."

Bobbi scoffed incredulously, "You could have just put your hands up back there. Instead you risk other people's lives on the road."

He smiled wickedly, "I like to go out with a bang."

It was then that Bobbi realised this man wasn't remorseful at all, that not everyone was good at heart. She failed to notice the large truck travelling down the opposite side of the road and the small glint of evil in the man's eye before he swerved. Bobbi whipped her head around and her eyes grew wide at the scene right before her eyes. Everything was halted for a second before moving in slow motion. She tried to grab the steering wheel but it was already too late. The impact hurt. A lot. Wheels screeched, metal made an awful groaning sound as it crunched and reshaped. She felt a sharp pain in her ribs and the burn of the airbag and seatbelt forced her backwards. Another force hit the car and it rolled. Once. Twice. Three times before coming to an agonizing halt.

All sound was muffled into one. The voices screaming, crying and the clanging of metal to metal. Smoke filled her lungs making it even hard to breathe on top of the injured ribs. Bobbi couldn't feel anything below her waist and all she could see was a blur which was fading fast.

The last words she thought of were her and Lance reciting their usual "Don't die out there, okay?" before everything disappeared and…

Darkness.

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Hey, new story here, my second of _Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D _fanfiction, hope it was satisfactory. Any feedback would be helpful please.

Review if you can :D


	2. Aftermath

Chapter 2 – Aftermath

Enjoy.

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Speechless. Shocked. Stunned. Only three of the many words that Lance felt at this very moment as he watched the collision come to a painful end. He slowly got out of his own vehicle he shared with Skye and didn't dare step any closer than he was. He registered how May was screaming into her communicator for back up and emergency services, worry etched into her face at the thought of losing a close teammate. Skye was trying her best to help May but the situation was out of human hands as the cars creaked unsteadily.

Lance's thoughts were jumbled as he couldn't get his feet to move towards the car. Towards Bobbi. He was stuck where he was as May got closer and attempted to get a response from inside the car.

"Morse! Come on, Morse talk to me!" She begged, a rare show of emotion further surprising Lance. May didn't say anything more after that and he couldn't tell whether that was a good or bad sign. If only his stupid brain and feet would re-join forces then he would be able to find out.

Sirens blared in the distance and the next thing he knew was that fire officers were crowding the car and the truck that had also been involved in the crash, looking for a way to get people out a safely as possible. Coulson had arrived, currently having a quiet conversation with the cops who had been called purely because of how S.H.I.E.L.D needed to remain seen as innocent as possible. In reality, they weren't needed at all because S.H.I.E.L.D could hide all evidence of a collision easily.

Lance could barely hear the words of the fire crew as they started to take parts of the vehicle apart. He wasn't aware as they took the truck driver out and away to a nearby hospital, muttering about how he was lucky to be alive. People got no reaction from him when they approached to ask him questions. Not even a muscle flinched as Bobbi was so carefully taken out of the vehicle on a backboard with a collar, into an ambulance. There was nothing.

Nothing until the thoughtless man Bobbi shared her last conscious moments with before the crash was removed from the vehicle, paramedics desperately trying to resuscitate him. Now Lance shot forwards, legs coming to life at last, and strode up to the crowd, pushing his way to the unmoving form,

"Why are you wasting your time and resources on someone like him? He wanted this. He wanted to hurt people!" He shouted and the paramedics were shocked at the outburst. It had attracted the attention of almost everyone on the scene as they shared glances between one another.

However, Lance continued, "You should be helping Bobbi because she was only trying to do her job and now she's fighting for her life…"

His words got more and more defeated as eventually he gave up and walked away, not casting a second look to anyone staring at him.

May looked on as Lance left, empathising completely with him – not something she did often with anyone, let alone him. A part of her wanted to go and talk to him but the other reminded her that more pressing issues had to be dealt with. She saw Skye looking a little more than hopeless and walked over,

"Skye. I need you to go to the van where Fitzsimmons and Mack are and tell them what's happening. I told them not to leave it on any account so they probably won't know why we took so long."

Skye was a bit slow on keeping up with what May was saying but when she took in the instruction, she didn't hesitate to voice her shock, "They don't know? They don't know that a huge, massive crash just really hurt one of our teammates? Tell me someone has told them already."

May put a hand on the frantic woman's arm, "You are going to tell them."

"Wha- I can't even comprehend it myself, May." Skye insisted.

"Nobody can. Coulson and I have to sort everything out and Lance has gone off somewhere. You're the only person left. Please say that we can rely on you."

Skye looked doubtful but nodded, "Of course. You're my S.O. I won't let you down."

May gave a firm nod before leaving to find Coulson and start getting to the bottom of their initial mission while providing care for Bobbi. Without knowing the extent of her injuries, they had no idea how much they needed to sort out. It could be a few weeks out, months – or more. May forced herself to push those thoughts out of her mind and focus on what she _did_ know.

Coulson saw her approaching and finished up his conversation with the fire chief to talk to her. His face was lined with stress and worry, much like everyone else's.

"They said that she most likely got burns and broken bones. The spinal board and collar was a precaution for spinal injury but they won't know for sure until scans can be done," He informed, "How are things on your end?"

"Lance is angry, Skye is lost. He's gone AWOL and she's telling the others the news. What more can I say." She replied in a resigned tone. Coulson nodded,

"And you?"

"I have no time for that."

"You've known Bobbi for longer than us. Don't try and tell me you're not beside yourself with concern."

May narrowed her eyes and hissed lowly to the director, "Tell me one name of a person with S.H.I.E.L.D who won't be. Everyone knows Bobbi and respects her but not everyone can grieve right now because there is still a job to do, Phil. Let's not be selfish here."

Coulson reluctantly agreed with May's words. There was still work to do. Just because something happens doesn't mean time stops and waits for things to get back on track. It just speeds up.

"Sorry." He apologised. May nudged him, losing a touch of her serious demeanour,

"Don't be a softie."

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Hi, I just wanted to say a huge thanks to the response I got from the first chapter, I hope this idea will live up to the expectations. Next chapter will get the ball rolling a little more. Stay tuned : )


	3. Strength

Chapter 3 – Strength

Enjoy.

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The next two hours were a blur. Coulson had headed straight to the hospital while May went on a search for Lance. Skye had broken the news to Fitz, Simmons and Mack and the four were currently sitting in the van, digesting the event. The sky outside was starting to darken and May had still not returned, nor had Lance.

"I think I better drive to the hospital. If May finds Lance then I can come back and get them. There's still a lot of people around though, I'm sure they could get a lift." Mack announced. Skye looked up at him as he prepared to leave the back of the van.

"Want some company up front?" She asked. Mack turned and nodded slightly.

"Sure."

The journey lasted long, too long. Skye was fidgeting in her seat while stealing glances at Mack who gripped the steering wheel with a force that gave his arms a tremor. Despite that, his face was emotionless and Skye was worried that he would keep it all to himself. Not knowing Bobbi's condition she could only think of the worst and that meant they couldn't afford to have agents withholding emotions.

"Do you want to talk about it?" Skye started, hesitantly. Mack's response came as a shock.

"Is that how we are referring to our friend fighting for her life? As an 'it'? You can't be serious, Skye." Mack exploded suddenly.

"Hey, no, that's not what I mean. I just…" Skye tripped on her words and Mack cut her off.

"Forget it! Just forget it because I'm driving right now and we don't need any more casualties."

Skye sat in silence after that.

* * *

May was running out of time. The unsettling breeze told her nightfall was coming and there was still no sign of Lance. She had searched the woods near where the crash had happened and found nothing so walked back across the road to the lake, figuring Lance could have backtracked after a while.

Walking across the uneven ground, May saw a hunched figure sitting next to the lake. It was Lance, eyes staring forwards, looking gaunt and defeated. She trekked over to him and sat beside him at the lakes edge.

"You know, someone once told me that they had a demonic hell-beast ex-wife that they found incredibly annoying and untrustworthy," She began and nudged him a little, "Looks like that's changed or was never true in the first place."

Lance's body was still as he spoke, "Anyone is allowed to be angry."

May nodded, "Sure they are. I'm a time bomb right now but I think I'll be able to hold off till I get to the punch bag or that driver's damned face. But you aren't angry, Hunter. I can see straight through you right now because you're hurting."

"That's stupid," Lance mumbled.

"Yeah, well so are you."

She continued, "You think you've lost your chance to do what you wanted, say what you wanted. But let me tell you – you haven't. Bobbi is out there somewhere in some hospital and you're out here feeling sorry for yourself. Think for a second, is that fair?"

Lance drew his eyes from the spot he'd been staring at for a long while now. The exact spot that Bobbi's life had nearly ended earlier that day. May was walking away now and Lance had to raise his voice to get her attention,

"Speak from experience?" He called.

May smiled slightly as she kept her pace, "Maybe."

Lance decided then that he wouldn't let his emotions through just yet, he needed to see Bobbi first and that was what he intended to do.

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To say it was a little hectic at the hospital would have been an understatement. Coulson had only been there for half an hour and was starting to feel dizzy from the passing people walking in front of him every other second as the waiting room filled and emptied repeatedly until it stayed permanently empty as the night settled in.

The hospital was not far from the accident scene, only a 10 or 15 minute drive. However, Coulson had wanted Bobbi to go to a more professional hospital at first, unknowing of her treatment, but had soon changed his mind after realising that if she didn't get to any hospital within some time, she wouldn't have made it half the journey. When Bobbi got better – if it was necessary – they would transfer.

It was another half an hour before Coulson was approached. Your typical doctor with the same sorry look on their face and standard tone of voice to create the illusion that they were feeling the same sadness and heartbreak you were. Coulson stood to greet him,

"Doctor, how is she?"

"Stabilizing," He started, "She's been very lucky in terms of internal bleeding. We haven't detected any yet but we'll be monitoring her overnight especially to make sure. Her main injuries are a displaced fracture of the tibia that has also impacted on the fibia. We had to do surgery to correct that. A head injury was sustained when the skull hit the window and was shaken violently when the car rolled. Some ribs were broken and there were lacerations over the body but they were the main injuries."

Coulson nodded but could sense the doctor was holding something back. He tried to get the doctor to look him in the eye.

"Something else?"

"We can't rule out the possibility of paralysis. Initially, the spinal equipment was only a precaution but looking further we found damage to the lower spine. We won't know any more until she wakes up." The doctor explained.

"When will she wake up?" Coulson asked.

"It's hard to tell so soon. It all depends on the severity of the head wound."

A small moment of dread passed through Coulson's body at the news but before it could completely take over the doctor was talking again,

"If there aren't any more questions right now then I need to get back. A nurse will inform you when more information is known."

Coulson said his thanks and the doctor left the waiting area. He sat back down in the seat he occupied for the last hour and went over each detail in his brain. Most of injuries were every day risks in an agent's life, ones you could recover from. Broken bones, cuts, concussion – manageable.

_Paralysis_. Paralysis wasn't an everyday risk, not always recoverable or manageable.

Footsteps drew near, entering from the left instead of where the doctor came from, signalling the arrival of Mack, Skye, Fitz and Simmons. As the team approached, Coulson looked at each of their faces and wondered where on earth they were going to find the mountain of strength they would need to pull through this one.

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Thanks for reading! Also for the favourites, follows, reviews and just reading the story anyway! If there are any scenes or ideas anyone has, I welcome them and love them, thanks.

Till next time (Shouldn't be as long as last time)


	4. Shock

Chapter 4 – Shock

Enjoy.

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"_I like to go out with a bang."_

_Wheels screeched and metal clanged against itself. The seatbelt yanked her backwards…_

_A second jolt put the car into several rolls as it shook its contents violently…_

_Smoke filled her lungs, increasingly the difficulty to breathe…_

_There were shouts, clangs and groans of the vehicle before everything was…_

The memories flashed through her semi-conscious mind as each of her senses threatened to come back all at once. First, the unfortunately familiar sound of a beeping monitor by her head and faint voices popping up from different parts of the room. Then, the awfully sterile smell drifted through and she wondered if her face portrayed her disgust at the odour. Even though these features were recognisable, she still couldn't think of why they were familiar – where she was or why she was here.

Bobbi was hit with the pain next. It started as an ache and developed into a rapidly spreading fire of pain. It caused her breathing to quicken and her eyes wanted to fly open, instead they peeled open slowly, wincing at the light piercing through.

"_She's waking. Pulse is raised."_

All of a sudden the voices were clear and loud and pretty unbearable as the words sliced extra pain through her head. A pressure was applied to her arm and it took a few seconds for Bobbi to register that it was a hand. More words came as new voices joined the first.

"_Keep her calm and stable. No more medication until I get the doctor."_

"_She's obviously in pain, doc better not be long."_

"_If you can hear me, try and squeeze my hand."_

Realising that the last statement was directed at her through the haze of grainy cloud covering her mind, Bobbi tried to force her strength into her left hand to communicate that she'd heard. All she managed was a finger twitch and if she could cry out in frustration, she would.

"_Good, you're doing great."_

The memories, the beeping monitor, sterile smell, doctors… _hospital_. The events were coming back now and the situation was making more sense each passing second. If only she could open her eyes and _see_.

What felt like another eternity passed as the coaxing and reassuring continued and Bobbi was getting increasingly annoyed, feeling trapped inside her own head. But the moment came after another minute when finally, finally she saw shapes. It was a blur at first but things became rapidly clearer until her vision had been restored. There was a woman standing on her right side, a nurse, Bobbi figured was the main voice she was hearing.

"How bad is your pain?" She asked. Bobbi went to speak but only a strangled croak found its way up from her throat. The nurse grabbed a plastic cup of water with a straw and tried her best to get Bobbi to drink some without choking. Lying fully horizontal had a few setbacks.

With a clearer throat, Bobbi got a word out, "Bad."

"We should be able to get you some more medication for that soon but if you can just sit tight for now," The nurse explained apologetically, glancing towards the door. Other people were taking vitals and preparing medicine to pay any attention to hospitality. When she got her words back, Bobbi would thank her.

"You took quite the beating, Miss Morse. You're lucky," She carried on. Bobbi wished she could laugh out loud at the phrases 'Miss Morse' and 'You're lucky'. It was like Jemma Simmons all over again.

"Bobbi," The injured agent whispered, hoping to get her point across. The nurse nodded in understanding just as the doctor walked through the doors.

"Alright," He announced too loudly, "Let's see what we have. Good to see you back with us, Miss Morse."

Bobbi fought not to roll her eyes in front of the man as the nurse beside her suppressed her own smile. The doctor went over the basic routine before moving onto the more specific questions.

"Now, you must understand why we have to keep you immobile for the moment is because of a suspected spinal injury. You have bad bruising down the right side of your body as well as on your spine. I want to do some quick tests with you to see how bad we're looking."

He moved to the end of her bed and out of her vision as she tried to comprehend the new information. Obviously, she must have misheard what the doctor had said in her exhaustion. Paralysis wasn't an option, she was an agent and there was no way a stupid car accident was going to prevent her from doing what she loved.

"Can you move your left toes?" The doctor began and Bobbi left her questions and worries at the back of her mind while she attempted to awaken her limbs.

After much effort, there was still no result. A new emotion washed over, the confusion became more present as _fear_ settled in. Maybe Agent Morse was immune to fear, but Bobbi still felt it, she was feeling it now and it was suffocating.

"I-I don't understand, I can feel you touching them so why can't I move them?" She stammered, helplessly, her voice still scratchy but being able to string a sentence together finally. The nurse was still there, offering comforting physical contact however the only focus was on the doctor's words.

"From what I'm seeing, you have a partial paralysis injury, meaning that you have some feeling in your legs however a loss of movement. Considering your broken leg, we wouldn't have expected you to move that anyway but moving toes is usually an easy step to be able to do. Partial paralysis can be treated and with physical therapy, you can walk again. It takes hard work and time but it's possible."

"But I have a job. I need to move, I need… I need…" Her words got more breathy as the panic started to creep in. The nurse's eyes flickered between the heart monitor and the doctor.

"We can't risk working her up, she's only just come to," The nurse offered, "Maybe we can revisit this another time."

Bobbi forced herself to swallow back her emotions as the doctor agreed with the nurse and said something about checking on another patient. He left, leaving a handful of nurses with Bobbi.

"Can you get… the team?" She asked. The nurse, who had wandered to the side to prepare some medication, appeared back in her vision.

"I don't want to overload you so I recommend only letting one person in at a time," She supplied, "I'm just going to give you this to take the edge off the pain but it might make you sleepy too."

The pain. It had been forgotten about between all the mixed emotions that had masked the immediate agony that had radiated through her bones. A small pinch told her than the painkiller was making its way through her system already.

It went very quiet in the room for the first time since Bobbi had woke up as the people slowly left, until she was alone in the room to think about the slight issue they now had because of her own stupidity of getting in the vehicle. Her eyes were drooping as the effects of the medicine became apparent. Bobbi felt unconsciousness slowly taking over again and she was so close to falling into a peaceful slumber when she heard them.

The familiar footsteps. Maybe it was weird that you could tell who someone was by their footsteps but being so close to a person for so long gave you that extra sense. Bobbi was sure, even from her position and only being able to really see the ceiling above her that it had to be…

"Hunter? Lance, is that you?"

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Thanks for reading! I hope you're all still interested and would love to hear feedback from you.


	5. Love

Chapter – Love

Enjoy.

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"Hunter? Lance, is that you?"

Hearing the unusually weak and scratchy voice made it all more real. Lance had been standing outside the room for a good chunk of time before he could pluck up the courage to enter. Not knowing what to expect, it ended up being the slowest entrance to a room _ever_.

He tried to keep his footsteps quiet but when Bobbi had spoken there was no choice but to show his face. It was the least he could do.

"Yeah, I'm right here." He announced. Instantly, he could feel her roll her eyes even though he couldn't see her face.

"I can't see you. Come closer. Promise I won't bite."

Lance noticed her sentences were kept short. To save her voice, he made his way to her side quickly and for the first time since before the accident, saw her face. It took a lot to rein in the shock that knocked the air from his lungs. Her eyes were rimmed red from lack of sleep, even though he knew she'd been unconscious for days. Cuts littered her face and Lance's eyes couldn't help but linger on the larger on running from her eyebrow down the left side of her face. All of that said, there was no denying that, to him, she was still beautiful.

"You really gave us a scare, Bob," Lance started, swallowing the small lump that had unknowingly formed in his throat, "The first doc said that you were just unconscious then you didn't wake up and I thought… I thought we wouldn't get you back. You still had brain activity but you just wouldn't open your eyes."

Bobbi's eyes had gone shiny with tears she would deny were ever there, "How long?"

"3 days. Longest 3 days of my life."

She gasped and moved her eyes to his, wishing the neck brace that still kept her trapped would just disappear. Lance held her hand loosely and whispered his words,

"It made me realise a few things. Time isn't going to wait for me to get the guts to say this so, Bobbi I never stopped loving you. Trusting you, sure, it's part of our job not to trust easily and you didn't make it very easy but I care about you and nothing has ever scared me more than seeing that car and knowing you were in it."

Bobbi was at loss for words by his confession. The two agents weren't ever known for their love of one another, more the opposite. She fought hard to go against the fatigue that was setting in so she could say her part,

"Feel the same way about you. Sorry for worrying you so much but I'm fine… go get rest and food." Her sentence slowly faded away and Lance saw the tired etched into her features get more noticeable as her eyes slipped shut. Before long, Bobbi had fallen back into sleep and Lance was told to leave by the nurse, insisting he should get some sleep of his own.

As he walked back towards the entrance, Lance felt considerably lighter than he did when he'd walked in. And that was all because of Bobbi Morse.

* * *

Coulson was waiting by the entrance of the hotel the agents were staying in during Bobbi's recovery. When Lance appeared from the taxi, he immediately noticed the more relaxed look rather than the angry tension that had rested on his face for the last 3 days.

"I'm getting the feeling that things went well." Coulson said in greeting. Lance stopped in front of him and wore a small smile,

"To be honest, we didn't talk much about her injuries but she seems to be okay at the moment." He informed the director who nodded in understanding.

They made their way inside and up to the 3 rooms that they were occupying and went their separate ways. While Simmons and Skye were staying together and Fitz, Mack and Lance were, May and Coulson had raised a couple of eyebrows when they opted to sleep in the same room. May's cold glare had soon shut down those looks.

As Coulson entered their room, the first thing he spotted was the glass in a small pile below a shattered mirror. Then his eyes found May, who sat on the bed, bandaging her hand that had obviously caused the mess.

"Not even 3 nights and we've trashed the place." Coulson's joke attempt fell on deaf ears as May continued to wrap her hand. He took a seat in the chair opposite the bed and searched May's body language and expression for answers. She sat with a slight dip in her usual posture and had defined creases in her face that spelled out stress, worry and frustration.

"Lance said Bobbi is doing well right now. We can leave early tomorrow and see her if you want." He tried again. May paused this time and Coulson swore he saw a flicker of something in her eyes before it went as soon as it came, "Maybe take her some films, Star Trek right?"

May's attention was grabbed instantly, "Star Wars."

Coulson smiled at the attention to detail May had. Bobbi would know exactly the same for May, not that many people knew of their friendship as they hid it so well.

"Of course. You'll both enjoy watching them after I leave you there tomorrow for the day."

"I'm working on the mission tomorrow." May argued.

"You've been working on the mission ever since the crash. It's time to take a break before your body shuts down completely. Running after random people won't get us any closer to finding the right person. If the broken mirror is anything to go by, your anger is overshadowing your judgement." Coulson reasoned. May seemed to consider this for a second, then when she spoke her voice was heavy with guilt,

"If there was even a small percentage that the person I was going after had the answer, then I wouldn't hesitate. The last thing I want to do is make things worse. But I can't hold my emotions in for much longer and the man driving the car is dead so what do you expect me to do?"

Coulson sighed, "Trust me, you aren't alone. And I can almost guarantee that spending the day with Bobbi will help. The others are probably going to be curious, you and Bobbi don't really let your friendship show."

May nodded and her words came will a powerful warning this time,

"Bobbi is a sister to me and if _anyone_ tries _anything_, I will find them and I will make them feel the pain she feels. No one gets away."

* * *

Thanks for reading.

Thanks to Guest, Ealasaid Una, jasam369 and Lola for reviewing the last chapter, really appreciate it.

Let me know what you think.


	6. Superheroes

Chapter 6 – Superheroes

Enjoy.

* * *

Sneaking into a hospital way before visiting hours had begun was not a common occurrence for Coulson or May. However, each being a spy, the challenge was greatly accepted and in no time they had found themselves in Bobbi's room. The injured woman was still asleep, as was everyone else at 5am, so they sat in the seats on the left side of the room.

May observed the battered form that was Bobbi Morse. She still lay fat on her back as she had been for the last 4 days now. The neck brace preventing her from moving even more and her leg casted heavily until the next check on it. May's eyebrows drew together at the unfortunate scene and had to avert her eyes in fear of the emotions it spiked.

"You aren't supposed to be in here," A voice from the door grabbed the attention of May and Coulson and they saw a nurse standing there, leaning against the frame with a knowing smile on her face.

"Ah, nurse, you see Melinda here was very insistent that we get here at the crack of dawn. This was the latest I could manage to persuade her to wait so I'm sorry for any inconvenience." Coulson provided. May shot him a raised eyebrow with a look of mild offence before returning her gaze to the nurse.

"He lies. It was mostly the opposite of what he said. There isn't a person in the world that would say I break rules, it just never happens."

Coulson rolled his eyes and shook his head at the nurse behind May's back. It didn't go unnoticed by May though, and she was opening her mouth to speak when the nurse got there first,

"Whatever the story is behind you two getting in here, it doesn't matter. As long as you tell everyone else you were never here this early then I don't see any harm in letting you stay. And don't harass the patient." She added as an afterthought. May nodded,

"Wouldn't dream of it."

The nurse left after telling them she'd be back in an hour or two to check on Bobbi, leaving May to glare at Coulson while he pretended to be oblivious by staring intently at the comic he held in his hands. It was, predictably, a Marvel comic and Coulson had claimed that everything in the bags they had brought were for Bobbi's entertainment only, but May knew he had slipped one or two items for his own benefit.

"Think Bobbi is a fan of Marvel comics and superheroes?" She questioned.

Coulson shrugged, "There's a bit of superhero in everyone. If she likes Stars Wars then I don't see why she wouldn't enjoy this."

"Bobbi sure is a superhero. Even more if she gets through this." May spoke quietly with a hint of sadness in her tone.

"Definitely." Coulson agreed.

They sat in thought for a few minutes that led to pass another hour as the light became much more visible through the closed blinds. Coulson was fidgeting in his seat for a good five minutes until he finally stood and spoke,

"I'm going for walk, you should come."

It was an order, May knew. She got up and with a last look over at Bobbi who remained asleep before following him out of the door.

* * *

They were only gone for 15 minutes and as they walked back down the corridor to Bobbi's room, May had the feeling that was 15 minutes too long. A feeling that sat deep in her stomach and unsettled her more than any mission would.

"Something's wrong." She stated and the tone in her voice made Coulson share her worry.

"You think so?"

His words came with an answer of several nurses passing them, making their way down the entire corridor until they reached Bobbi's lonely room at the end. May glanced to Coulson and started to jog after them,

"I know so."

They reached Bobbi's room in record time but were prevented from going in by a nurse and left to watch as they faffed about with the machinery. Bobbi was agitated, May could tell, trying to move against her neck brace and upper limbs flying everywhere. Her lower limbs remaining still.

After a very tense few minutes for May and Coulson, Bobbi finally stabilized and nurses were filing out of the room slowly, one of them – the one they could recognise from earlier – approached them.

"It seems like Bobbi had a restless sleep, leading into a nightmare. It's very common after traumatic events like the one she went through," She informed, "Also, the new doctor hasn't been so kind and lowered her pain killers, she's burning straight through them."

"You can't recommend stronger ones? You watch over her 24/7, not him." Coulson said. The nurse could only offer an expression of sympathy and helplessness.

May spoke up, "Is she awake?"

"She's in the midst a little bit. You're free to go back in considering visiting hours start in half an hour it shouldn't be a problem for any nurses."

"Alright, thank you. We really appreciate your help." Coulson thanked the nurse who smiled and nodded,

"If you need anything, ask for Maria." She offered before walking back down the corridor.

May led the way into the room. She got closer to the bed that the agent lay in and could see she was awake, but looked confused and disorientated. May reached out and touched her arm, mindful of some bruises but being aware she was on the less injured side of her body.

"Hey," May greeted, "You good?"

Bobbi shifted her eyes to May and they held pain and hurt, "In pain right now, but I can talk and I'm alive so… I guess that counts for something."

"It sure does, Agent Morse. I'd hate to lose someone as skilled as you. The odds of beating Hydra would fall by a large percentage," Coulson piped up, then added, "And you're a friend. It's hard to find those in a world of lies."

"Huh, and you think I don't lie?" Bobbi joked, giving May and Coulson a reason to smile – woman still had her sense of humour.

"Not to us, I hope. I need to go… we have some more things to do regarding the mission." Coulson said and Bobbi's face fell a little at the thought of being left alone again.

"Okay then, I'll see you guys later I guess. Tell me all about it then." She said. May looked down at Bobbi after realising what she thought,

"Unfortunately for you, I have orders to keep you company for the day. Not that I mind spending the time with you, of course." She clarified. Coulson just shrugged at the women who were looking at him either accusingly or with confusion.

"Mel was getting too attached. I need focused agents on the job, not ones who are looking for pure revenge. A day here will do you both good, so if you excuse me…" He said and left the room to return to the hotel.

Bobbi half-smiled at May, "You work too hard."

"He just walked in at the wrong time. If I had more control over my limbs then it would be less frustrating. I want to be out there helping with the mission."

"Ah, I think I know the feeling." Bobbi said with a sad humour in her voice that made May's heart sink a little.

"Bobbi, I'm sorry, that was insensitive of me. It must be-"

Bobbi stopped her guilty tone immediately, "No thanks, May. Let's not get unhappy here. You got anything else to talk about?"

"Actually…" May left Bobbi's side to reach into the bag that she and Coulson had arrived with. She pulled out DVD's and comics littered with a range of superheroes and sci-fi characters, "How about we start working our way through these?"

Bobbi laughed at the entertainment being held above the bed so she could see and one caught her eye, "Coulson sneak that in?"

"The Marvel one?" May guessed but was incorrect as Bobbi attempted to shake her head but the neck brace preventing her from doing so.

"No, no. The other one that was filmed by Skye,"

May looked at what she was holding and had to refrain from laughing too loud when her eyes spotted the film. It had been a gift for Bobbi from Coulson when she had first arrived from working for Hydra. The team had performed a very over the top day-in-the-life-of and Fitzsimmons had even dressed up to participate with their role. The only person who hadn't got 100 percent involved was Lance, who had still been thoroughly unhappy and annoyed about Bobbi's arrival and had settled with giving the camera a firm glare and shake of the head.

"I remember that, we should save that one for when the rest of the team come later. I was thinking more along the lines of…this." May held up one of Bobbi's favourites, Star Wars.

Bobbi smiled gratefully, "Put it on the TV but unless you can convince the doctor to get this thing off my neck then I'll just have to listen to it."

May didn't seem fazed as she moved to the TV that was placed on the table near the door, in front of the bed. Not ideal for patients in Bobbi's condition. As she waited for the disc to load, she told Bobbi she'd see what agreement she could come to with the doctor and slipped out of the room.

It gave Bobbi time to think about the nightmare that had occurred once again since she woke from her deep unconsciousness after the crash. The pain killers were giving her the most horrifying versions of the crash, how it did go and how it could have gone. Each time someone different was at the wheel. May. Coulson. Even Lance. Or they would have been standing in the way and Bobbi's mind had forced her to watch the people she loved and cared about be hurt by her own faults. She knew that she had to talk about them at some stage – to someone. But for now Bobbi could only hope for a relaxing and terror-free day, watching films and enjoying the company of, her very much alive and unharmed, teammate and friend.

Today,her _superhero._


	7. Advancements

Chapter 7 – Advancements

Enjoy.

* * *

"I can't thank you enough, I feel free for the first time in what, 4 days?" Bobbi spoke as she was finally free from the neck brace that had held her prisoner for the last few days. The nurse smiled and shook her head to disagree,

"Close, more 5 days now. Remember not to make any sudden movements or it will be right back on again."

Bobbi nodded slowly, "Yes boss. May will probably keep me in check."

Then, strolling in on cue, was May. One hand clasped around a cup containing a warm beverage of some sort, the other holding a bag that looked full of packaged items. One look inside and the nurse was laughing and giving Bobbi a doubtful look,

"Seems to me that Agent May isn't as responsible as you make her out to be. I think I'll stick to checking in often." She informed.

"You can drop the 'agent', May won't mind, will you?" Bobbi said, May rolling her eyes in return.

"Thank you for making the decision for me, Morse. But considering Maria has already shared her name, I suppose it's only reasonable to do the same." She dumped the bag on Bobbi's bed and set the cup on the table beside. Bobbi craned her neck slightly to see the contents of the bag.

"Oh, I see, your trying to kill me off with a sugar high," She nodded to Maria, "Checking on us sounds good."

Maria smiled in triumph and headed out the door, "Be sensible!"

The women quickly got comfortable, watching a film and pumping their bodies with sugar. For Bobbi especially, it couldn't get much better. She was aware that a lot of waiting, lying and sitting around was still to be done before physical therapy could begin, even though her other injuries were ones she'd dealt with before. Broken ribs, bruises, cuts, concussion and even the broken bone – despite it being much more severe than any before. Patience was never something Bobbi had or needed but the next few months would tell a different tale.

May noticed the change in Bobbi after she paused the film and Bobbi's eyes, supposedly gazing at the screen, remained fixed yet not watching, giving away her current deep thinking session. May let it go for another minute before asking,

"What's on your mind?"

Bobbi blinked, facing May and opening her mouth to deny everything. However, seeing the look on the older agents face made her think twice about her words and gave a half-shrug instead.

"Talk to us. The whole team are here to help you. Doesn't have to be me but talk to someone." May insisted from her place in the seat beside the bed. Bobbi lowered her eye line to her motionless legs for a second before lifting them again, meeting the eye of May.

"I'm paralysed."

The helplessness in the two words were enough for May to get a little of the punched in the gut feeling.

"Partial, Bobbi. You could be on your feet again in a matter of weeks." Even her own words lacked conviction. Bobbi couldn't help but scoff, raising her left hand to gesture at her broken leg, sadness and anger etched into her features.

"You're forgetting that I snapped my leg so bad that it will take months to fix. May, all the determination and hope in the world would be great but it's not enough. My body is physically failing on me."

_Gee woman, when did you start getting so emotional?_, May thought as she fought the sting in her eyes. Fortunately, a new presence in the room provided an escape for both Bobbi and May as they let the newcomer intrude.

"Hey, uh, sorry to interrupt," Skye greeted with an awkward wave, "AC said you guys were having a little time so I won't stop long…"

"No worries, Skye, you're welcome here." Bobbi reassured, not a trace of the previous emotions left. May sighed inwardly but gave no hints to Skye about the content of her and Bobbi's conversation, instead joining in the conversation herself.

"Would you like to join?" she questioned the agent who still hovered by the door.

Skye quickly shook her head in decline, "Love to, but we're still working on the mission… no good news I'm afraid."

May's fists clenched in her lap and Bobbi grimaced but let the woman continue, "We found another abandoned location but came up negative. With the driver dead and no more leads, I'm sorry but AC's thinking of letting it go."

A tense silence fell as the other two agents soaked in the information. Bobbi had no clue what had been happening in the real world and was glad Skye had come to give an update, despite the news being so disheartening. May on the other hand, failed to be so contained and suddenly stood, her chair causing an ear-piercing shriek as she did.

"If Coulson thinks that's how it's going to work then he has another thing coming." She practically growled before promptly storming out of the room, leaving Skye wishing she'd never said a word. She looked to Bobbi who had raised a hand to hold her head,

"You alright?" She asked with concern as she crossed the room to replace where May stood a few seconds ago.

Bobbi smiled through a wince, "Yeah, May just gave my head more 'hit with a baseball bat' feel than it already did."

Skye mouthed an 'ouch' in sympathy, "Sorry, I shouldn't have said anything yet. Anything I can do to help?"

"No, it wasn't your fault. I'm due more pain killers soon anyway," Bobbi let her hand drop back down onto the bed and looked at Skye, "Is there any more news on what's happening? I'm kind of restricted in what I hear from May."

"Not really, we're chasing every lead, every person and possibility, promise," Skye informed, "Anyway, I came here to see how you are on behalf of the whole team. Everyone's really worried about you."

"I'm fine," Skye gave her a skeptical look, "Okay, I'm getting there. A couple broken ribs, broken leg and… _partial_ paralysis. I need a lot of therapy but I'm definitely lucky to be alive. Unlike some." Bobbi thought back to the driver. Skye caught on,

"You know, he's lucky to be dead. None of us would have shown any mercy." She stated.

Bobbi chuckled, "Oh, I'm fully aware. I think May was first in line for that one. Not even Hunter could compare."

Skye nodded in agreement and noticed the way Bobbi smiled a little at the mention of Lance. It only took her another handful of seconds to piece it all together.

"So, you and Lance, huh? I totally support it."

Bobbi had to refrain from whipping her head up in surprise, "What?"

"Well, it _is_ really obvious and predictable I suppose…" Skye went on, deciding to tease Bobbi to lighten up the atmosphere.

"Skye, what are you talking about?"

"Mrs Bobbi Hunter… or have you already been that? Are you still called that?"

"Why would I be-"

"Well! Looks like I have some stuff to sort out so I'll catch you later, Morse-Hunter!"

Bobbi was literally left, jaw-dropped and speechless. When Maria returned to give her the pain killers, she was still with that same expression.

"What's got Bobbi Morse speechless?" She joked. Bobbi closed her mouth and relaxed into the now familiar feel on pain relief,

"To be quite honest, I'm not too sure myself."

* * *

Coulson's conversation with an agent was interrupted by the sound of a loud engine, followed by a screech of the brakes as a vehicle stopped beside them. He dismissed the agent and turned to look at the driver,

"Mel, what do you think you're doing, driving around like that after Bobbi's accident? I have one very skilled agent down, I could do without another." He reprimanded. May didn't spare him any apology as she marched up to him with a fierce, firm scowl on her face.

"Don't even go there. Are you seriously thinking about dropping the mission?!" She demanded. Coulson internally groaned and vowed to have words with his team about telling May stuff. There was a time and a place and a _strategy_, none of which had been considered by the sounds of it.

"This is our last lead," He gestured to the abandoned warehouse building surrounded by the forest that they now stood in the middle of, "so far we have nothing and it's getting dark-"

"No. I don't care if there is a total eclipse, we do not give up." May went on, ignoring the wary glances from working agents. Coulson sighed in exasperation and moved to pull May away from the unwanted eyes when a loud bang and a shout came from the direction of the warehouse.

Coulson and May went closer to the source of the noise and found most of the agents with their weapons aimed towards the door. Following their line of aim, Coulson tensed at who he saw standing by the entrance to the warehouse.

"Stand down," He ordered the agents who reluctantly followed his order. May's incredulous look almost making him second guess himself. Almost, "Why are you here?"

The figure by the door shrugged nonchalantly as if they had just been passing by, "I thought I'd show my face before you go completely off track."

"It was you all along." Coulson concluded.

"Took you this long? Coulson, you've gone rusty since I left. Maybe we can work something out." They suggested with a humouring tone in their voice. May narrowed her eyes at them, she'd been waiting for this moment too long to stand around talking.

"Agent May, don't you remember the good times we had? At least look a little more pleased to see me. You look like you want to shoot me on the spot." They continued to poke at the agents. Only one swift movement later, May had pulled out her I.C.E.R, aimed and fired at her target.

"It would be my pleasure."

* * *

Thanks for reading, sorry it has been longer than I thought to get this one out.

For all the reviews from the last chapter –

Guest: I think a May and Bobbi team-up would work great on the show so I made it happen here. Thank you for reviewing!

Ealasaid Una: All questions will be answered soon! But Bobbi will be okay and I'm not sure how I want to involve the Avengers yet. Thank you!

Sasha: Maria is the nurse but she isn't an Agent or anything so if Hill was to get involved then it would be as 'Agent Hill'. As for the rest, I still haven't decided – stay tuned! Thanks so much!

Jules3033: Here ya go, thanks for reading and reviewing!


	8. Impending

Chapter 8 – Impending

Enjoy.

* * *

Lance heard the I.C.E.R shot from his place in another part of the forest and instantly went searching. Plenty of reasons for the shot were listed in his brain, considering the fact that a bunch of trainee agents were out on the field lately, and mistakes were being made left, right and centre.

On his way to the source of the sound, he almost ran into May who looked thoroughly annoyed – as usual – as she paced her way through the forest.

"May, didn't you hear the I.C.E.R go off?" He questioned the agent who had at first ignored his appearance. She stopped pacing and turned around,

"Yes, it was me." She replied and raised an expectant eyebrow at him. Lance had a small goldfish moment before he could reply,

"Okay… who was on the receiving end?"

May's eyes went dark as she thought of the name, "Someone evil. Someone we can't risk getting any answers they want."

Lance frowned at the vague answer and had to call out quickly to May as she was off walking again already, "Is it that bad?"

She stopped again. Not turning back this time, she muttered words that made Lance's blood slightly colder, "It depends what you think of Grant Ward."

* * *

Skye was walking to the hotel after leaving a bewildered Bobbi back at the hospital. In her head, she was plotting the best way to have a bit of fun with the new relationship that had become known, without ruining the whole thing. If her personal experience with Ward was anything to go by, she wasn't an expert and had to plan carefully. The last thing she wanted was for Lance and Bobbi to split and hate her forever.

She turned the last corner and the hotels large sign was in sight, stealing the attention away from the rest of the shops and businesses that surrounded it. It wasn't that they were looking for an expensive hotel, this one was genuinely the nearest to the hospital and that was what Coulson was looking for, Lance strongly backing him up. Skye recalled the first time they had gone in, carrying their bags of clothing from the Bus and bickering about who was sharing rooms with who. It had been their first moment where the conversation hadn't been dampened by Bobbi's unfortunate accident.

Walking up the few steps to the main entrance, Skye had placed a hand on the door before a call from behind prevented her from entering.

"Skye!" It was May, having again pulled off some dangerous driving to get to Skye. The younger agent jogged back down the steps and leant in the window to talk to May.

"What's up?"

May just had to look at her and Skye knew something was wrong. There was worry in the eyes she had gotten to know so well after May became her S.O.

"Please just get in the car, Skye."

Five minutes later and they were on their way, neither agent with enough courage to begin a conversation. May was driving out of town, into the countryside and Skye recognised it as back to the location of the last lead they had on the mission.

"Did you guys find something?"

May's grip on the steering wheel tightened and she replied, "We found someone. Or they led us there."

"May, who is it?" Skye asked, hesitantly. May gave no answer.

"Who is it?" She repeated, more forcefully and May shook her head this time,

"Skye, you really don't need-"

"Oh my god," Skye breathed as it finally dawned on her, "Ward? It's him, isn't it? That's why you're being so secretive. What's the point of taking me there if you think he's going to get to my head again?"

"I don't think that," May argued, "If I thought that, do you really think I would have told you?"

Skye pulled in her lips to prevent herself from saying something stupid and considered May for a moment. The woman seemed genuine enough and Skye wasn't about to throw around the accusation that May wasn't ever doing what was right. If anything, Skye felt fear. Fear that dug a pit in her stomach and caused a slight increase in her heartbeat. Fear that Grant Ward had the power to ruin everything again.

"What are we going to do?" She asked quietly as the roads were dead around them, the buildings turned to trees and all that was heard was the faint hum of the engine as May had calmed her driving.

"I don't know about you but I'm feeling a very _small_ interrogation coming on."

* * *

"Do you have any water? Or food? Or anything?" Ward asked, casually, after he was led inside to the Bus to the interrogation room, where a desk with a chair on opposite sides awaited him. The only relief that they gave him was releasing him from the handcuffs.

"No." Coulson replied bluntly as he rested in the chair across from Ward, who nodded as if he understood the no nonsense attitude Coulson had adopted.

Extra agents cleared out of the room, leaving Coulson and Lance alone with Ward until Simmons and Fitz arrived too. Mack had decided to stay out of the interrogation for the simple reason that he had nothing to say to the guy.

Coulson stared at Ward. Lance glared at Ward. Both were under the impression that he definitely caused Bobbi's accident, he'd practically admitted it out in the forest. Coulson shoved a photograph on the desk, it was of the driver who had purposely swerved into the truck.

"You recognise him?" Coulson asked to which Ward was expressionless, giving an unchanged shrug, "You should."

"Well, I've had a few people work with me. I wouldn't know if one was dead." Ward supplied.

Lance moved forwards quickly, placing his hands on the desk and leaning towards Ward, "He is. Because he knew that if he survived either we would get to him or you would. He drove himself in front of a truck and Agent Bobbi Morse was right there with him."

Ward smiled, fondly, "Oh yes, Agent Morse, who doesn't know of her? What a shame she's-"

"-in hospital, getting treatment. Yeah, we know. It sucks. Guess what sucks even more, though?" Coulson spoke with a teasing humour in his voice that made Ward visibly cringe.

"Maybe, you saying 'sucks' one more time." He muttered.

"You have much worse things to be worrying about. May's on her way, with Skye. And I can bet you they won't just want a catch up chat."

Ward sat back in his seat and showed the first sign of annoyance and irritation since he had appeared. A frown grew on his face and he started to snap his words,

"Don't you have more to do than sit here with me? Check on Morse or something? I'm not telling you anything valuable so you're wasting precious time."

Anger burst through Coulson in that one second and he couldn't help but loose his cool, the temperature rising in the small space, "You are not part of this team anymore, Grant. You betrayed, killed and manipulated us and S.H.I.E.L.D. You threw Agents Fitz and Simmons out of the sky and left them for dead!" He took a breath to calm himself, "So do not tell us we are wasting time when you spend so much of yours making everyone miserable."

Eerie silence fell upon the three men until Ward shifted, folding his arms and looking to Lance.

"Got anything to add?"

The man in question scoffed and gestured around the room, "You're stuck in here and you still expect us to give in to your emotional bullying?"

Ward and Lance fixed their stares on each other in a silent game of dare that went on until Fitz and Simmons walked into the room, both looking anxious to see Ward again. Lance broke eye contact with Ward who took opportunity to take advantage,

"Be honest with yourself, I can tell you and Morse are together now, but you only told her your feelings because of guilt. Guilt that you didn't stop her getting in that car with that man who crashed it and left her in a state. That's the truth."

Lance's jaw clenched in anger that he refused to show in front of Ward. Instead, he slid past Fitz and Simmons to leave the interrogation room and the Bus, the only thing on his mind was the urgency to speak to Bobbi.

* * *

Maria was testing Bobbi's body response for the third time that day when Lance rushed in, breathless, slight embarrassment covered his face as he got strange looks from the two occupants in the room.

"What? I was in a rush." He defended himself, earning a slight laugh from Bobbi and a roll of the eyes from Maria.

"What's got you so flustered, I thought Agent Lance Hunter was the laid back one." Maria jibed.

Lance spluttered a response out, "Me? Flustered? No. I, uh, just wanted to check on Bobbi while I was passing by. Make sure May didn't do any damage."

Bobbi slowly drew in a breath then spoke tightly, "I don't know if you've noticed but I'm already pretty damaged over here."

"Bobbi," Maria warned with a stern look at her patient.

"Sorry," Bobbi said, the word sounding rehearsed as it left her mouth. Lance tried to push the spark of worry he felt from the small exchange between Bobbi and the nurse to the back of his mind so he didn't get side-tracked from what he wanted to say.

"So… how long until you're done here?" He asked Maria who poked some more at Bobbi before straightening and giving a knowing sigh.

"I think we're done, I'll leave you to it." She said before swiftly walking out of the room. Lance gaped after her before turning back to Bobbi,

"I didn't mean to…"

Bobbi grinned at him, "Don't worry, she's fine. People keep kicking her out whenever she's doing checks so she makes a joke of it."

Lance relaxed his face in relief that he hadn't offended Bobbi's nurse, the only person he could rely on that worked in the hospital, to look after Bobbi properly. He moved closer to Bobbi's bed and gazed into her expectant eyes,

"You needed to say something?" She prompted.

Lance nodded cautiously, "I need you to know that what I said the other day wasn't just because of this," He pointed generally towards her injuries, "I really have not stopped loving you. Hating you never stopped either, of course, but that's just how we are, Bob. Crash or no crash, my feelings for you weren't going to stay hidden for much longer."

Bobbi looked at Lance with love and amusement, "You really are a sappy love addict."

"Oh come on. That's all you say?" Lance exclaimed causing Bobbi to quickly deny and grabbed Lance's hand.

"No, no. I love you just as much and more, I'm just wondering where all this came from." She pondered.

Lance debated telling Bobbi about Ward, "Just something someone said, but let's not worry right now."

He responded with a small peck to Bobbi's lips that blossomed a smile on her face, the most real smile that had graced her features in days.

* * *

Thanks for reading. This chapter took way longer than was planned and it's not the best it could be but the best I could do.

Reviews, thank you and keep giving feedback because it really helps the writing process along –

Sanctuaria – thanks for the wonderful review! I'm very glad you liked the chapter, here is a bit of Lance for you!

Guest – May is pretty awesome with Bobbi, happy you like their relationship! Thank you!

Ealasaid Una – The Avengers will be showing up in the story soon, stay tuned! Thanks!


	9. Disbelief

Chapter 9 – Disbelief

Enjoy.

* * *

Skye and May simultaneously slammed their doors shut and made for the Bus that still sat in the clearing by the forest. Agents that were stationed outside stepped aside, the two women radiating the apprehensive anger that pulsed through their veins. Their boots made contact with the metal floor of the Bus, causing loud clangs to alert those nearby of their arrival.

Swinging the door to the interrogation room open, May entered the room with Skye closely following, joining Coulson, Fitz and Simmons who looked at Ward with hurt, betrayal and anger carved into their faces.

"Hey, are you guys okay?" Skye approached the scientists, their gazes never leaving the former teammate sat at the table opposite Coulson.

"Yes, thank you."

"Perfectly fine."

The two replies were completely unbelievable as the words were laced with hate, but who could blame them considering the things he'd done to them. Skye didn't push the scientists for a truthful answer – not in front of Ward – so she turned to face the man she'd hoped never to see again.

Ward looked _aged. _His facial hair had reached a new level despite his hair, or lack of, on his head. It had been shaved down to barely an inch, most of that and more had gone to his face which held a thick amount of hair around his chin and was rising at the sides to meet his hair. His rough-looking hands often ran across his chin as a sign of thinking but Skye couldn't help but internally scoff at the thought because Ward clearly had no good-natured brain cells to go through with the things he'd done. His physique showed how he hadn't stopped his intense training schedule, and Skye was thrown into memories of her and Ward's time in the training room together, in his efforts to get her to a respectable level. Back when he seemed genuine and driven to do the best for S.H.I.E.L.D instead of his actions that never ceased to put a bitter taste in Skye's mouth.

May watched the rainbow of emotions flicker over Skye's face, Ward's silent humour at the whole situation and couldn't hold her own leash any longer, "What the hell is he still doing here?"

It was Coulson that she'd addressed, and he replied monotonously, not wanting to show any more emotion to Ward after his explosiveness earlier on, "You and Skye want to say your piece, go ahead."

May slowly shook her head, "Not anymore."

The Director rose from his seat and gave a shrug, unchanged by May's change of heart. He stepped towards the door as he spoke, "Well. We can't just let him go. No one's stopping you if you want to talk. No one's forcing you either."

Skye looked back to Fitz and Simmons after watching the words between May and Coulson unfold. They looked resigned but something about them seemed more satisfied than before. Skye's thoughts were confirmed when Fitz muttered,

"My questions have been answered. If I ever hear of Ward again, I don't want it to be because he is near us." He stated his words as if the man spoken of wasn't in the room, looking at each of Simmons, Skye and May. Simmons nodded silently in agreement, looking straight back into Fitz's eyes.

"You won't be seeing him ever again. I'll make sure of it," May promised with a firm glare at Ward, "I'm going to have a word with Coulson. If you want to leave I'm sure there's someone around to keep watch."

May left, Fitz following immediately after. Skye, Simmons and Ward were left in the interrogation room but it couldn't feel more claustrophobic from the remaining tension between Skye and Ward. Simmons debated leaving the two to themselves to talk it out but had a strange feeling that wouldn't be the way things would play out.

"Do either of you know how long I have to stay here because I have business waiting for my return." Ward spoke to break the silence that had clouded over the room. Skye scoffed at his ignorance to the situation,

"There's no chance that you're getting out of here before you talk to Bobbi, Ward. Either I'll drag you there or she'll come here but she deserves an apology – or something."

Ward leaned forwards in his seat, taking a quick glance to the door, "I'll tell you something, Rookie, Coulson has accused me of all these things but is he really sure?"

Skye frowned. Ward's choice of wording wasn't the most clear or easy to read so she had no choice but to go along with it, "What do you mean?"

"I mean, where is innocent until proven guilty? I may have done things to you in the past, but I promise…"

Skye interjected sharply, "Promise what?"

* * *

"I'll be able to get out of this hospital soon, can you believe?"

Lance turned and grinned at Bobbi who was staring dreamily out of the window of her room she'd been occupying for so long, almost completely immobile for the most part. Maria had given her the news that once she was comfortable and safe in her wheelchair, she'd be able to get fresh air without someone to escort her around. It may not have seemed like much to an able-bodied person, but to Bobbi, and her new life for as long as it took to get back to her feet, it was the best news coming. Lance replied,

"Yes I can believe. I also believe that you can get strong enough to leave the hospital permanently, then I can take you on a proper date and we can sit all day every day doing whatever you want to do."

Bobbi laughed, "You wish. Once I'm out of here, we go on the date, I crack on with physical therapy and start desk duty with these missions. No way are we slacking off!"

"Aw, come on, Bob. Not even a week?"

"No way, I need to know who caused this." She didn't need to clarify the subject.

Lance looked down instantly. He'd still not had the guts to tell Bobbi that they'd found Ward to be the cause of her paralysis. Things had been going so well with the treatment, so who was he to interfere?

Unfortunately, Bobbi's heightened agent senses had picked up on Lance's sudden change of mood and didn't hesitate to question him,

"What is it?"

Lance looked back up at Bobbi with regretful eyes and knew he stood no chance at lying to her, "When I came in earlier, I didn't exactly tell you why I was in a rush. I just needed to see you and you looked so happy…"

Bobbi's features turned serious and she uttered the words, "You know. Why didn't you say anything before?"

The British agent sighed and ran a hand over his face in self-annoyance, "I'm sorry, I didn't want to make you… I don't know… angry?"

"Come off it, Hunter. Who is it?" Bobbi demanded but with a soft hesitance to her tone. Lance reluctantly revealed the information that Bobbi wanted to know and could only watch as her face morphed into shock and a burning anger settled in her eyes,

"Ward. He gave his orders to the guy and this was the outcome. He hasn't given us any details yet, stubborn idiot."

Bobbi sat back in an aid to let it sink in, "So Ward is at fault here? He did this again, ruined lives."

Lance nodded, "Yeah, I'm really sorry, I should have told you earlier-"

"You should have but you didn't. But at least I know now, right?"

"We're going to get him, Bob. Promise." Lance reached over and grabbed one of Bobbi's hands to secure his promise to her. She gave a half-hearted smile in return, "Right."

* * *

"Ward, what are you saying?" Skye persisted to Ward who had gone quiet. Simmons had also decided to keep her words to herself, body tense as she wondered what Ward could be implying.

Eventually, he spoke again, words that knocked the breath out of Simmons and Skye, the realisation that the chase was back on,

"I _promise_. I did not do that to Agent Morse. I gave my orders, three men at the warehouse. They all came back. I don't know what the hell is going on but…"

"It was not me."

* * *

Thanks for reading.

Sorry it's been so long, I'm getting back into things again. I hope that if you read, you can leave feedback for improvements or what you liked so I can continue with updates that are worth reading. :P


	10. Deterioration

Chapter 30- Deterioration

Enjoy.

* * *

Skye burst into Coulson's office without invitation, disrupting May and Coulson's heated conversation told by the looks on their faces.

"Skye, could this wait-" Coulson began but a hand up from May stopped him from speaking any more. She approached her trainee who had a conflicted expression fixed on her face.

"Did Ward say something?"

Skye opened her mouth, then hesitated, before continuing, "Yes he said something," May tensed, "But not what you think. He told us that he didn't cause the crash. And I believe him."

May disguised her initial outrage behind a frown, "You're sure? He isn't messing with your head?"

"I'm very sure. You have to trust me. We need the search back on right now." Skye pleaded.

"I'll talk to Ward and make the decision," Coulson stated and observed his agents, "You both should go to your hotel rooms and get rest. Better yet, get food and fresh air before getting rest. It will do you good."

May raised a judgemental eyebrow but lead the way for Skye to follow. However, Skye had a final word for Coulson before she went,

"Please reopen the search. This isn't about me, or you or anyone on the team. It isn't even about Ward. It's about Bobbi, what she deserves, right AC?"

Coulson smiled slightly, "Right."

The hacker left Coulson in his office, thinking about where on earth they were supposed to start searching for the new suspect.

* * *

Bobbi released a breath of exhaustion as she finally settle into her wheelchair. After the Ward revelation from Lance, Maria's physical - (torture) – therapy and trying to move from the bed to her wheelchair by herself with a heavy cast on one leg and numerous broken ribs – it had been one hard day.

Lance had watched it all unfold from his seat in the corner, banished there by Maria for a reason that Bobbi thought was to make everything twice as hard. He knew Maria was making Bobbi's recovery as efficient as it could be but it was hard to understand that when you're on the receiving end of the treatment.

"Please say I get help getting back in that." Bobbi breathed, inclining her head to the left where her bed was. Maria chuckled lightly,

"I'll think about it. But hey, what happened to wanting to do things independently?"

"I don't think today's events have granted me the enthusiasm." Bobbi replied, the recurring questions about Ward returned to swirl at the front of her mind again.

Lance piped up from the corner, knowing what was likely to have cropped up in Bobbi's thoughts, "Not worth your time, Bob."

The room fell into a quiet lull as Maria and Bobbi passed small words to test the latter's current body strength. This lull was only broken by the appearance of Skye and May a few minutes later.

"Hey, anything too important?" May said as she observed the scene before her. Before Maria could get a word in, Bobbi jumped in to answer,

"No stay. Please."

Ignoring the glare from her nurse, Bobbi gestured to her bed.

"Take a seat, may as well use it while it's free." Skye and May did so, acknowledging Lance as they passed, "What brings you here?"

Bobbi didn't miss Skye instantly look like a fish out of water or May conspicuously nudge her and plaster a fake smile on her face. But she didn't mention either. Yet.

"Just seeing how you are." May answered.

"Well, I hope this all sums it up. If not, Maria has my notes."

Maria almost choked on air, "Bobbi you can't do that! Patient confidentiality, the law..."

"I'm the patient and I'm an agent. Think that covers both." Bobbi shot back at the nurse who groaned.

"God, you're so difficult." Maria left the agents in the room with one last firm glare at Bobbi.

May was amused, "She's... fun."

"You sure?" Bobbi inquired but left the topic where it was, "Anyway, has there been any updates on the mission you want to tell me about? Skye?"

Skye stammered, "Uh..."

Bobbi decided to save the young agent the embarrassment and addressed both,

"Hunter told me about Ward. Don't get mad at him," She warned before May could pounce on her new prey, "I just want to know more."

This time, Skye could speak, somewhat thankful for Lance's revelation to Bobbi.

"There's actually been a development. Ward didn't cause this. He sent three people in and they all came back to him that same day."

Bobbi leant back in her chair, "Oh."

"I know. He's a shocker, right?" May muttered. Lance also reacted to this news, his chair scraping against the ground showing his distaste as he stood.

"He's a wind up, that's for sure," He said, bitterly as he stalked over to stand nearer the bed, "Do you know why he waited so long to tell us?"

Skye shook her head, "Who knows how his mind works? But this means we have to keep searching so we're going to need all the help we can get." She glanced guiltily at Lance. He turned to Bobbi,

"You don't mind if I go get you some justice?"

Bobbi chuckled, "I'm not dead. Go for it, go and do my job worse than me."

Lance pulled a mock-offended look and left the room to return to the Bus. May failed to hide her smirk and Skye didn't even try.

"Well..." The hacker drawled, "You and Lance?"

"Lance and I, we..." Bobbi debated lying, "We might have something going on."

"Finally!"

"Hey! You know we were married, Skye," Bobbi laughed but winced when a twinge shot through her ribs. May immediately stood from the bed,

"Think you should rest before any more damage gets done." She and Skye worked to get Bobbi back onto her bed, a task harder than it first seemed.

"Can you lift your legs a little?" Skye asked.

Bobbi sighed in slight annoyance, "Trust me, I would if I could," She bit before wincing in regret, "Sorry."

The job was finished in silence and May and Skye stepped back to give Bobbi the space to adjust.

"You good? Starting to break a sweat there." May asked.

"Yes..." She paused, "Wait, that's weird..."

In the next moments, the atmosphere dropped and the temperature sunk a few degrees. Bobbi was gripping her thigh just above her leg cast as her face creased in pain.

"Bobbi?"

She could only whisper, "My leg hurts. It hasn't been hurting."

May was out the door instantly as Skye remained firmly next to Bobbi.

"Hey," She grabbed Bobbi's hands that were grabbing for her leg, "Don't do that it won't help. It's okay."

As she prayed for May to get back with someone that could help the agent in front of her that was fighting to cover her pain and her pride.

"Sorry," Bobbi gasped. Skye shook her head,

"Don't worry Bobbi. Bobbi?" The question came after Bobbi seemed to lose consciousness but Skye couldn't be sure because the pain was still obvious.

"Agent Skye?" Maria questioned for information as she entered followed by a short strong of other nurses.

"She just passed out I think, I'm not sure." The words tripped over themselves in the haste. Maria didn't waste any time checking vitals, calling orders around the room.

"Page the doctor, keep her stable!" The nurse demanded, "You said she had leg pain?"

May snapped out of her daze to reply, "It came on suddenly, she said it never hurt before."

Maria nodded, "It shouldn't. The nerves from the partial paralysis stopped most of the pain. A dull ache at most."

She moved down the bed and pressed on Bobbi's thigh. The agent jerked a little but Maria continued to her foot. Her face dropped.

"What? What's going on?" Skye inquired.

Maria looked at the nurses, "Get the cast off."

One male nurse with short blonde hair and crooked glasses stuttered, "T-the doctor isn't here yet. We can't do that procedure."

"We need it off now."

"But-"

Maria lost her patience and raised her voice a few octaves, "Compartment syndrome. It's been days, I don't know how it happened but we need to cut off the cast. If we don't – she has no leg."

* * *

_to be continued..._

Thanks for reading. And the amazing reviews I got from the last chapter made this happen faster. I'll take note on feedback and suggestions.


	11. Rocks

Chapter 11 – Rocky

Enjoy.

* * *

"What do we tell the team? She was fine a few hours ago." Skye barely said, her words finally reappearing to break the silence in the waiting room she and May sat in, the silence that had been the loudest sound for the last half an hour apart from the faint hum of the lights.

May didn't shift her eye-line from the door. She had let her guard down when Bobbi was lying, barely conscious, in pain, and she wasn't prepared to make a habit out of it. Not once did she reply to the persistent everything okay's and I'm sorry's from the nurses that continued to float about. What were they sorry for? Did they cause this mess? Were they really that sorry? May didn't think so.

Skye continued to passively murmur her thoughts, "Why didn't they just let Maria cut off the cast? Then she wouldn't be…"

"She is not dead, Skye."

May spoke, finally.

"Right." Skye agreed.

"She'll be okay."

"She will."

* * *

Maria walked down the seemingly never ending corridor. Her voice as a professional told her she shouldn't be delivering this news. Her voice as a person, a human being, told her she should be because these people were relying on her to take care of their agent at a time when they could not. Bobbi's stubbornness and attitude was surprisingly intriguing and Maria had formed a closer bond with her than other patients for as long as she could remember. But that also meant that she felt a little more emotional when Bobbi deteriorated, the other nurses could tell and even the doctor had his suspicions. As she finally approached the waiting room door, she braced herself for the moments to come, knowing the news she had wasn't some they were going to be fond of. However, she was a nurse and that was what her job entailed sometimes.

* * *

It had been another hour. May had heard the footsteps coming and was already standing when Maria entered the waiting room, a regretful look on her face. It wasn't the most comforting sign.

"I won't sugar coat anything here. Bobbi still has a leg which is extremely lucky. Her recovery time for that leg has been extended, especially because the cast wasn't cut off earlier, so physical therapy will only be on one leg until it's healed. There's a possibility that if we can get her one leg strong enough, she could use crutches then but it really does depend on her body." Maria explained.

"What about right now?" May inquired. Maria sighed but answered,

"There were complications. She should be staying in the ICU for longer because of that but I managed to pull a few more strings so she's back in her room. I know I'm going to end up going _way_ overboard for all of you." The last part was said mainly to herself, disbelief at what she'd already done for them so far.

Skye picked up on Maria's tone, "Why do you do it?"

The nurse offered her a warm smile and answered with a hint of humour in her voice, "I honestly have no idea. Bobbi is manipulating like that, I guess."

She changed the subject before Skye could continue to question, "I suggest you go back to… wherever you go to, Bobbi can't have visitors just yet. Eat, drink, rest. Just get out of here, we'll be in touch if anything happens."

May nodded stiffly – though the relief was evident on her face from the news Bobbi was okay – and left the room while Skye hesitated.

"Everything okay, Agent Skye?"

Skye nodded, "Yeah, I just have a question," Maria gestured for her to continue, "Why are you a nurse?"

Maria looked taken aback, "Why am I a nurse?"

The agent nodded to confirm. Maria glanced around, cautious of prying ears of gossiping nurses. She then turned back to Skye and replied,

"Look, I'm not meant to be here," She motioned to her surroundings, "It isn't my environment but helping people is my passion and this place is the closest thing I can get right now. In reality, I need more than this job, I want more. I just can't risk it."

Skye listened carefully and an immediate thought had surfaced in her mind but she didn't vocalise it to Maria, not before she could be sure. Meanwhile, the nurse seemed to realise she was sharing information she wouldn't usually, and probably shouldn't with someone she barely knew.

"I'm sorry, I shouldn't be talking about this. I need to get back. So do you, I think." Maria disappeared to join the hospital traffic, leaving Skye a lot to think about.

* * *

"Jemma," Fitz called for the biochemists attention as she walked into the lab on the Bus, "Can we-can we talk?"

Simmons nodded enthusiastically, "Of course."

They moved to a quiet corner of the lab. It had been a while since either scientist had been working on the Bus's lab, it almost felt foreign to be standing in it as the people they were – how they'd changed. Fitz wrung his hands together and fiddled with them as he tried to find the words. Simmons reached out to place one of her own on his,

"It's okay, Fitz. What do you want to talk about?" She encouraged.

Fitz sucked in a breath and rushed out his words, "I just wanted to say sorry for back in the interrogation room, I was just, uh, thinking more about myself I didn't think to check with you on how you felt about Ward but I was just a bit angry…at him."

Fitz frowned. He wasn't planning on saying that. He was supposed to tell her-

"That's okay. You don't have to ask me when you want to tell someone how you're feeling. I mean, you can always talk to me but you don't need my permission. Especially when it's Ward." Simmons couldn't help the disgusted tone of voice and expression that greeted her when she spoke of the man that had betrayed them.

"Right. Yeah…"

Simmons caught Fitz's eye, "Was that all?"

Fitz ran his hand down the back of his head but nodded, "Yeah, that's everything," He slid past Simmons to resume his lab work. However, Simmons could feel that there was something else so she called back to him,

"Leo!"

Fitz looked to the left, then back over his shoulder at Simmons, "Yes?"

"You know you can tell me anything, right?"

He gave a small nod and returned to his work, Simmons furrowing her eyebrows in confusion and thought as she went in search of Skye.

* * *

May and Skye had decided to return to the Bus. Coulson's advice of rest and food had flew straight out of the window by now considering Bobbi's condition, plus Skye was driving May insane with how she was banging on about talking to Coulson urgently. There was literally nothing she could do to drive faster, the speedometer needle would actually _break._

"Alright, we're here. Get out of my car." May ordered however resignedly. Skye shot her a look of concern but she remembered when her S.O had once told her that she preferred to stew with her emotions alone. With that thought, she left the vehicle to enter the Bus and find Coulson.

The man was spotted fairly quickly, Skye collared him and dragged him back to his office.

"AC, I know we've been a bit short on medical field agents lately…"

Coulson sighed and leaned back in his chair, preparing for an incredibly long conversation.

* * *

74 minutes later and Skye was chucked out of the office.

"You promise to think about it?" Skye triple-checked. Coulson internally screamed, "Yes. I'll definitely think about it!" But it came out much calmer, showing his eternal patience for this woman.

The office door closed and Skye made her way down the spiral staircase, hoping she'd done enough to get her point across to the Director. She walked towards the open cargo door to leave the Bus, get some air when a voice hollered from behind,

"Skye!" It was Simmons, of course, "I've been looking everywhere!"

The hacker half-shrugged, apologetically, "I had to talk to AC, something happened at the hospital."

"I really think you should consider changing Director Coulson's 'nickname' from AC to DC…or would that be too much like the comics…" Simmons pondered before suddenly digesting what Skye had said, "Wait, what happened at the hospital? Is Bobbi alright?"

Skye eyed the agents around them that were either in their own conversations or on guard of the Bus. Despite knowing this information, it still put her on edge. The scientist picked up on it and took Skye's arm,

"We're going to the bunks, clearly you would rather not talk in front of other people." She explained.

They weaved their way throughout the Bus to enter Skye's old bunk. Nothing had changed here, it was still small, simple and bland. She had never felt comfortable enough to personalise it, not that she had much to do that with. Simmons sat herself on the bed and Skye followed.

"What happened?"

Thinking back at the events of the past few hours, Skye felt a sting in her eyes, "Um…" Her voice cracked and wavered as she tried to find the words. She swallowed back the lump in her throat in an attempt to speak more coherently, "Jemma, I think Bobbi almost died."

Simmons' eyes widened as Skye reached a hand up to cover her mouth, realising the reality of what she'd said.

"What on earth do you mean?" Came Simmons' shocked reply. Skye released a shaky breath,

"I don't know, she had compartment syndrome. They didn't let Maria – the nurse – cut off the cast straight away and then there were some complications. I genuinely thought we'd lost her. She was supposed to be in ICU but Maria had her moved back to her room with the equipment in there."

Simmons nodded slowly in understanding before launching herself at Skye to embrace her friend in a much needed hug, "Compartment syndrome is okay. Not _okay, _okay but as long as there are no clots from her broken leg spreading to her lungs then she should make a good recovery. There will be some mighty scar there though, just to add to her battle scars. I'm really sorry you had to be there to see everything." She spoke into the hug.

They parted and Simmons asked, "Does Lance know?"

Skye shook her head but stopped and shrugged, "Maybe May told him but she wasn't in the best of moods so I don't think so."

The scientist gave her a pointed look, "You know what we need to do, right?"

"Yes, I know. Just dreading it like hell. You know, we had just been talking about their relationship before…" She didn't return to the topic, "It just sucks how this has come up."

Simmons only had time to nod when the bunk door slid open and one of the _last_ people they wanted to see stood there, a frown fixed on his face and arms crossed over his body. Skye immediately stood to face him, it was all or nothing now.

"Hunter-"

"What's going on? May has a face like she's been slapped by a brick wall and you two are gassing in here like there's some top secret mission happening. So cough up." Hunter interrupted. Simmons stood up and placed a supporting hand on Skye's shoulder, giving it a squeeze before excusing herself from the bunk.

"Skye?" He prompted expectantly.

Skye knew she couldn't put it off any longer, "May and I went to the hospital to see Bobbi earlier. We were just talking-"

"_Please _get to the point." Hunter said, a worry becoming evident on his face.

"She complained of leg pain, it got really bad. Maria came in and she said it was compartment syndrome. Then there were complications during the surgery…" Skye trailed off at Hunter's expression.

"Is she alright?" He asked. Skye barely nodded and was about to speak to explain further but Lance was gone, racing to see Bobbi – he wasn't going to let her go again.

* * *

Well, the chapter is finally here, thanks for your patience if you read.

Apologies for the cliffy! Thank you so much for the reviews from Sanctuaria, Guest and Spitfire303!

I was just wondering if I should do a time skip? At some point? Because, in reality, the injuries that Bobbi has are a very long working progress to recover from, I could write for months on end. So I'm not talking anything too major but just enough to change the scenery a bit. Please let me know what you're thinking out there!

Thank you and until next time.


	12. Awaken

Chapter 12 – Awaken

Enjoy.

* * *

Weaving his way through the busy hospital corridors, Lance didn't stop once until he reached his intended destination. And there, was Bobbi, lying lifelessly on the bed, attached to too many wires and machines for him to feel assured that she was okay. It felt all too much like the first time he'd seen her here, only days ago. Inching towards the bed, feet like lead, Lance tried his best to ignore the machines and focus on the woman his eyes could never resist.

"Good God woman, why do you always do this to me?" He murmured, watching, waiting for a response but it was never expected to come.

Silence made the room an empty one. Silence was all the sound but for the constant beeping of the monitors and Lance's ragged breathing, trying to hold the emotion down for a little longer because now wasn't the time or place for that – Bobbi needed him strong. Seeing her so helpless and – he hated to think it – _weak_, made everything so surreal. Never in their time together had he seen her in such a state, he'd definitely seen it bad, even horrific in some cases but Bobbi was always conscious of it and wouldn't let herself be down like this. And it was so hard to watch it all unfold now.

He reached out and grabbed an unharmed hand. It was warm, of course, she was alive after all but the comfort was still great in knowing the fact. He crouched lower to her, gripping her hand with two of his now, and spoke into their intertwined fingers,

"You don't understand how hard it is to go away from here, looking for the person that almost caused your-" He stopped and closed his eyes, resting his forehead on their hands, "Looking for someone that could have shattered my world. Ever since the day we met, if there's been one thing that I haven't been able to avoid thinking about, it's you. Even when we were apart. Especially then. I can't stop because there is one thing that I've learnt. I love you so much, Bobbi." He squeezed her hand and lifted his head to look at her face in a vain hope that she would do something back.

She didn't return her own declaration of love.

She didn't squeeze his hand.

She didn't wake up.

It was enough to make Lance place her hand back to its resting position and stumble back into the chair behind. His back hit the rough plastic and sent a small shock through his system, forcing an involuntary breath to escape from his mouth. It reminded him that it was much harder for him to breathe without her by his side. So he would wait until she was again.

* * *

Mack and Fitz lounged in their hotel room they shared with Lance as they departed from the Bus for the evening. Each sat on their own bed, Mack seemingly in deep thought and Fitz the same – however distracting his hands with a mini pocket puzzle.

"You know there's a way to do that." Mack stated out of nowhere, and when Fitz looked up he realised the mechanic was looking at the puzzle he held.

"Oh I know, I've done this before. I was just…" He frowned at his hands, holding them still for a fraction of a second before allowing them to resume the twisting and shifting. Truth be told, Fitz hadn't a clue why he was aimlessly playing around with a puzzle when he could be doing something more productive to help the mission.

Mack knew the expression anywhere. He'd seen it in Bobbi a lot. Especially after she came back from undercover work at a HYDRA base. He swung his long legs off the bed and sat up straight, looking at the scientist in understanding, "You're thinking about everything. And I don't blame you, the man that almost took your life away came back and you have to pretend that it's cool. Let me tell you, it's not cool."

Fitz looked at Mack and nodded. It was the furthest thing from cool to throw two people that trust you in the depths of the ocean.

"So take all the time you want. Sometimes you have to stop thinking for everyone else and take a few moments for yourself. I get that, mate. Just don't think too hard." Mack grinned and was about to sit back into the bed when Fitz came out with a statement that made him shoot up in curiosity.

"What did you just say?"

Fitz reddened a little but repeated his outburst, albeit quieter, "I'm in love with Jemma."

Mack chuckled, knowingly, "I knew it."

"You-what?" The scientist sputtered in shock of his friend's revelation, face now burning like a furnace. Mack just shrugged, unchanged by Fitz's horror and embarrassment,

"We work together, if anyone was going to know, it would be me."

"Right well," Fitz began, "I guess you can help me talk to Jemma about it then."

Finally leaning back again, Mack rolled his eyes, "Yeah, that'd be the day."

* * *

Skye caught Coulson as he strolled off the Bus and headed into the forest. And by 'caught' him, she actually sprinted after and stopped right in front of him, then had to walk backwards because of his failure to stop walking.

"Have you thought any more about what I said earlier?" She questioned the director who sighed deeply and replied,

"I'll be going to the hospital tomorrow. I'll speak with Maria then."

Skye nodded slowly, making sure she didn't miss any tricks in what he'd said. She turned and walked alongside him instead, eventually realising they were walking into the middle of the forest when it would be completely dark within the hour and the temperature wasn't exactly warm and inviting either.

"Where are you going?" She inquired, glancing anxiously around, eyes darting to each bush or tree, on guard for an ambush.

Coulson didn't reply. Instead, he halted his footsteps and pointed to a figure standing tensely to the left of where they stood. Squinting in the low light that the setting sun gave, Skye made out the form of her S.O and her eyes widened in surprise,

"Where have you been all afternoon?" She asked as she and Coulson approached where May stood. All she got in reply was silence, and when Skye thought about it – about _today_ –, she knew she probably didn't expect anything more than just that.

Leaving the question to go unanswered, the trio lapsed into a silence. As they stood, the sun only got lower and the breeze even cooler as each breath they took was whisked away behind them. May had actually picked a decent place for thinking, straying far enough from the agents surrounding the Bus but close enough to be within reaching distance. The view captured the best part of the area they were in, a steady gradient of rocks leading to a stream that stretched a distance they couldn't quite see. And as the moon lay across the water, Skye couldn't think of a much better sight at that moment, couldn't think of a better place to be.

If it wasn't for the awful events that had struck them down in the last week.

"This is pretty bittersweet." Skye voiced. Coulson turned his head to acknowledge what she'd said, of course he agreed and there was next to no doubt that May was feeling the same way. He nodded slightly at Skye before returning to watch the natural scenery in front of them.

"I'm sorry it's been a hard week, but we need to pull together and work harder now than ever. The faster we do that, the faster Agent Morse can be back with us." Coulson addressed his two agents. Immediately, he felt May tense up beside him and braced himself for the dam of anger to break.

It came sooner than he thought, her voice biting as the chill that settled in, "Is that really all you have to say? That we need the extra pair of hands back? Seriously Phil, I thought better of you, I thought you _cared. _Bobbi is my friend and if she doesn't make it back to this team, then fine - as long as she is alive," May had her entire attention on Coulson, fury blazing in her eyes, more emotion than Skye had ever seen her show, "Sometimes I'm not sure how much you value the people that do everything you tell them to do. I am not so sure that I'm willing to be one of those people if you carry on this way!"

Coulson, seemingly unaffected, let May have her moment. Then, he calmly spoke, "Are you finished?"

"No." She replied but it was much more resigned, like she couldn't be bothered to fight anymore. The use of raw emotion had drained her to the core. Skye spoke up from the other side of Coulson, despite feeling like she was intruding on something she shouldn't be witnessing,

"You aren't the only one, May. I'm not alone when I say is more than a teammate, Simmons absolutely adores her," She took a breath to steel herself, "You are allowed to talk. About stuff."

_Nice one, Skye. Show the woman some real compassion_, Skye mentally slapped herself at the way she'd offered her advice. But May replied as if it were any other question.

"As your S.O, I shouldn't have to confide in _you_."

"What? I don't care if you're supposed to be the queen of no emotion. May-"

Skye was cut off by Coulson re-entering the conversation, unable to listen to the young agent talk herself in circles, "Melinda knows why she is how she is."

Skye's mouth slammed shut from whatever she was going to say next as she prepared for the inevitable argument that would follow. It never came. Instead,

"He's right."

The atmosphere deflated then, and it suddenly hit how cold it was out there so, they walked back to the Bus, discontinuing their conversation. Not just because of the temperature, but there was nothing else to say. May had vented, Coulson had waited and Skye had learned. And they would wait until Bobbi healed.

* * *

Back at the hospital, Lance had been hit by a wave of fatigue, giving in to sleep as he rested with the top half of his body resting on Bobbi's still form. Meanwhile, the nurses came in occasionally to check on their patient, Maria lingering for longer than the others. Visiting hours being over, she should have kicked the slumbering Lance out hours ago, but couldn't find it in her to do so despite knowing that the sky was only getting darker and Lance should get back to his team before they worried. Instead, she let it go and would deal with telling Director Coulson herself. As she left, she didn't note the slight change in Bobbi's monitor.

The room was lifeless when Maria left and only if she'd stayed for a minute longer would she have witnessed the single movement of the weakened form on the bed. 11.37pm was the time when Bobbi's face flinched in something similar to pain or effort and only a few seconds later,

Bobbi's eyes opened.

* * *

Hey, sorry it took so long. Again. But, really, it has been back to study lately so…

Anyway, hope you liked it and leave your comments if you have time.

Coming up – Bobbi comes to terms with the reality of recovery. Fitz plucks up the courage to tell Jemma. Maria gets an offer she can't resist.


	13. Return

**Chapter 13 – Return**

**Enjoy.**

* * *

White walls, white ceiling, white sheets…white, white, and white. Smells too clean, oh how she'd miss the hospital.

Bobbi sat with her good leg hanging off the side of the bed and her damaged one resting upon it. Finally back in her own clothes, although a stark contrast to her previous attire in sweatpants, she felt more pleased to be leaving now than the days building up to this point. The sun streaked into the room through the blinds creating lines across the bed that she traced aimlessly with her hand. Lost in her thoughts, she failed to immediately notice Lance strolling back through the door after finalising Bobbi's release with the doctor.

"So, are you ready to head out?" He asked, knocking Bobbi from her musings. She half-smiled at him and replied honestly,

"Part of me feels a little reluctant to leave this place. I've been here for a month, there have been so many bad things that I would have died from if I wasn't here already. If anything, I've learnt that I'm not as strong as I thought."

Lance frowned and moved forward to sit on the empty side of Bobbi's bed, resting a hand on her cast, "Just because this kept pushing you back, doesn't mean you weren't strong and I still count my lucky stars that you're still here because you fought back. Plus, don't you want to get back to the Playground so you can badger Coulson about helping out with something."

There was a slight pause as Bobbi pondered whether to tell Lance the truth, but after seeing his face change to concern for her one too many times now, she saved him the worry, "Yeah, of course. I can't wait."

"Alright then," He stood and pulled the wheelchair from the corner of the room, around the bed and to Bobbi's side, "Let's get going."

* * *

"It really is good to have you all back, sir." Billy Koenig greeted the Director as he and the team reacquainted themselves with the Playground. Coulson straightened is suit as he looked around, feeling a sense of pride return with the familiar surroundings. Fury had given him the opportunity, the Playground, and now he was going to lead his team to find out who wanted to take down S.H.I.E.L.D this time around.

Looking back at Billy, he sighed with content and spoke, "It's good to be back, Billy."

Billy nodded his approval, "And something tells me the Bus had just landed. You might want to take the walk down there to greet the other agents."

Coulson nodded, "Of course."

He made his way to the bay where the Bus had just returned, along with May, Lance and Bobbi. The trio appeared from the back of the Bus, May striding in front while Lance pushed Bobbi's wheelchair just behind.

"Agent Morse, it's great to see you out of the hospital, you must be relieved." Coulson greeted the woman who smiled back at the director,

"I feel like I've come back from the dead one too many times now." She chuckled. Coulson smirked at the statement,

"Trust me, I know how that feels," He looked to May who was standing by the entrance to the bay, waiting for them to leave, "I'm sure you would like to talk to everyone else so I'll leave you to it. We have a briefing in an hour, Agent Hunter."

He turned and walked back in the direction of his office, noting how May didn't speak a word to him as he passed. _Strange, _he thought. This time, he didn't actually know what he'd done wrong. He was left to his own thoughts as Lance and Bobbi left the bay and May closed the shutter, striding off in a cloud of cold air.

* * *

"Agent Morse!"

The shout came from Simmons, who had caught a glimpse of Bobbi passing by the lab. Lance stopped pushing the wheelchair, much to Bobbi's thanks as she would much rather be pushing it herself, and they waited for Simmons to appear, Fitz just behind.

"Hey, Simmons-" Bobbi's sentence was cut short by Simmons engulfing her in a hug, momentarily forgetting the injuries Bobbi had.

"We've been waiting for you to come back, how are you? Fitz has created something that will help keep track of your health so there's no need to worry about that. Just focus on your recovery, right? Everyone here will support you because my life is in about ten times more danger now that you're off the field…"

Fitz came and placed a hand on Simmons' shoulder, slowly removing her from Bobbi as he warned, "She's still quite injured, Jemma…"

Simmons recovered from her miniscule breakdown and wiped some hair from her face, standing up straight next to Fitz.

"Of course, I apologise. It's just… a relief that you're going to be okay." She explained.

"Its fine, Simmons. You don't have to tread carefully around me. I'll be back in the field…" She wanted to say 'in no time' but she couldn't lie to herself, "I'll be back eventually."

"We'll be waiting on it." Simmons declared as Lance took Bobbi's wheelchair back into his hands and started to leave the scientists to get back to their work. Bobbi, once again, pushed back any annoyance she felt at having herself carted around because she knew it was Lance's way of making himself useful.

They'd only managed a few meters when Fitz called for them to wait and quickly made up the space between them, stopping and wringing his hands together as he spoke,

"I've had my injury, I can understand what you might be feeling. If you ever want to talk, I wouldn't mind listening. Even if it's completely random and about that mysterious biology degree you have." He offered, to which Bobbi nodded gratefully.

"Thanks Fitz. You know, you're getting on well, especially with Simmons over there," She inclined her head to the other eager scientist that was working again in the lab as they saw through the glass windows. Fitz immediately blushed and rubbed the back of his neck self-consciously.

"Erm…"

Lance stepped forward and slapped Fitz on the shoulder, "She's just messing with you, mate. Although, Bob has a point, it's only a matter of time."

Bobbi and Lance continued down the corridor, leaving Fitz to wander back to the lab with a blushing face. They carried on their path through the Playground until they reached the rooms where Lance moved in front of Bobbi to open the door. Before he could move again though, Bobbi put out a hand on his arm and pulled him down to her level,

"Hey…" She began.

"Is everything okay?" Lance asked, anticipating any response that he could help with.

Bobbi was quick to nod, and Lance relaxed slightly, because he knew that look. This was the look that meant he could be hurt by what Bobbi was about to say next, she never held back on saying anything any other time.

"It's okay, whatever you have to say, just say it. We're going to be honest with each other, aren't we?"

Another quick nod, before Bobbi spoke, "I get that you feel like you need to be by my side all the time now, but you don't. The team need you still, and I need to be independent again, just like before. I need to be able to push my own wheelchair, open my own doors and…oh, this is sounding so bad…I'm not being ungrateful, I swear," Her words clipped as she blew out a breath, "It's just funny how much independence means when you have it least. Even though I can't do this on my own, I need to feel like I can."

Lance looked down and Bobbi made out a small nod of understanding as she tried not to dwell on the small frown she saw on his face. Their intertwined hands parted as Lance stood back up.

"Please don't think…"

"Bob, it's fine. You're strong, you need your own… space. It's whatever you need to do, okay?" Lance said, looking anywhere but at her, "I'll be around if you do need me."

_Oh, crap, Morse, _Bobbi thought as she watched him walk away. They were becoming pro's at the on-off relationship, and Bobbi was starting to realise how much that was her fault. She sighed, and traced her fingers around the wheels of her chair before setting of to find Maria.

* * *

She didn't have to travel far from the rooms as she spotted a room labelled, Recovery, on the door.

"Figure this one's for me," She muttered under her breath as she pushed the door open, awkwardly while trying to get through at the same time. Once she had strategically made her way through, she saw Maria testing the equipment that was spread across the vast room.

"I guess this is all for me, huh?" Bobbi questioned in greeting to her former nurse who craned her neck to see Bobbi as she finished checking one piece of equipment.

"Hey, Mockingbird!" Was the reply she received.

Groaning, Bobbi realise that Maria had been briefed by Coulson already, "Coulson's told you everything?"

Maria scoffed, "Of course not. He's a smart man."

Bobbi couldn't help but grin as she rolled over to where Maria worked, "You're really here for good?"

"Yes. Anything else would have beat working at the hospital, but this? This is a dream. Although I feel bad for getting such a gain from your loss."

The injured agent stared at a machine that looked way too complicated to be of any benefit to her, "Yeah, well…"

Maria stopped. She'd heard that tone one too many times now. She beckoned Bobbi to follow her to the far corner where there were seats and she sat down, Bobbi staying put just in front of her. The now S.H.I.E.L.D agent studied Bobbi for a second before leaning forwards,

"I was wrong just then. You haven't lost anything, just _lacking_ something right now. You'll be better in no time. But I'm sure you've been hearing that all day, every day lately," At Bobbi's nod, she continued, "So I'll ask you this, do you want to be better?"

At first, Bobbi was shocked by the question. Of course she wanted to be better, there was no one worse to stick in a wheelchair. But the she thought about it, and all of a sudden it made sense. All the hesitance about leaving the hospital, making Lance leave her alone so she could become used to managing the wheelchair by herself. She'd been avoiding the idea of recovery, and even more so the idea of getting back in the field.

"I do want to get better, more than anything. But…" Bobbi paused, unsure. Maria tapped her arm as an encouragement, and Bobbi rushed the words out like it was a crime she'd commit, "I don't know if I want to be an agent any more, Maria."

Maria nodded slowly, "You will never know until you try, Bobbi."

They locked eyes, one pair full of reluctance and fear, the other full of belief and determination. However, the moment was short lived as Coulson came through the door, slightly aggressively, looking tense and apprehensive.

"Morse, I think you should come with me."

Bobbi immediately followed her Director's orders, aware the Maria was behind her, and was led by Coulson to the huge doors of the Playground, where they saw Lance waiting impatiently also. He spotted Bobbi and almost instantly looked away again, causing a pang of regret to hit her. Coulson gave a sign to Billy to open the doors and he stood still, with the most serious expression she'd seen on his face in a long while.

"What's going on, sir?" She asked, respectfully, but forcefully.

Against the rush of air that came from the outside world as the doors opened, Coulson looked at Lance and Bobbi, "If it is who I think it is out there, we might be in for a bit of a shock."

Bobbi's eyebrows furrowed as the situation didn't get any clearer, looking to Lance who was wearing the same bewildered expression that she probably had, but facing the doors, then to Maria who was watching on as the wind began to pick up, squinting her eyes at the intrusive brightness. Bobbi looked back to the doors as they fully revealed what was beyond, two feet led a figure into the Playground, and Bobbi raised a hand to shield her eyes against the glare that blocked her from seeing their face. What she saw hit her like a swift, solid punch to the stomach.

"Izzy?"

* * *

**Sorry, sorry, sorry, it's been so long since the last update, all I can say is that it was lost on me for a bit of time there, I didn't know where to go with it. But now I've heard the news that season 3 will be coming to my television screen next week, I can get back into the swing of things!**

**If anyone has any ideas they want to see, put them in a review and I'll gladly take them into account.**

**I just want to thank anyone who is still reading, and those that reviewed the last chapters. I will finish this story, it's just a matter of how long it takes.**

**Thank you all!**


	14. Izzy

Chapter 14 – Izzy

Enjoy.

* * *

"Izzy?"

There Isabelle Hartley stood. Shirt and jeans, all too casual for someone who was appearing from the dead, she walked in to the Playground, allowing Billy to close the doors once again. The wind stopped, and for a second it was calm.

"What the bloody hell," Lance's outburst came as Isabelle was about to speak herself, "I saw you die, you're supposed to be dead. In fact, you were very much dead."

Isabelle raised an eyebrow, "Hello, Hunter. It's good to see you too."

Lance paced forwards until he stopped a meter from his once deceased friend, "Don't do that with me. Do you have any idea how torn up I was? You and Idaho, gone," He pressed his hands against his eyes in frustration, or maybe it was an attempt to change what he was seeing, "This is crazy."

Two steps echoed off the walls as Isabelle closed the gap between herself and Lance, pulling him in to an embrace, "I'm sorry."

It was only those words that were needed to diffuse the false anger that Lance had directed her way. Their hug was enough to last for the next few minutes, but so many questions needed answering, Isabelle had no doubt that Lance would be interrogating her later. However, as she saw over Lance's shoulder, there was someone else who deserved an explanation.

"Bobbi."

Isabelle stepped away from Lance and started towards Bobbi, but halted in her stride when Bobbi started shaking her head,

"This is crazy. I think I need to go back to the hospital, Maria," She breathed in disbelief, "Am I the only one seeing this?"

Maria wasn't sure if she was actually being addressed, given that Bobbi seemed to have missed the interaction between Lance and this woman she hadn't seen before. Even so, she in front of Bobbi to greet the newcomer.

"She seems pretty real to me, Bobbi," She threw over her shoulder to Bobbi before holding out a hand for Isabelle to shake, "Nice to meet you, I'm Maria, formerly Bobbi's nurse, now a S.H.I.E.L.D medic."

Isabelle held out her own hand without thinking, and when it made contact with Maria's hand, Maria immediately pulled away out of shock, as if Isabelle's hand had burned her. There was a moment of stunned silence before Maria broke out of her surprise.

"Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't realise…" She squinted at what she saw before her, "I don't mean to be rude but, why is your hand made out of metal?"

"It's a long story," Isabelle started, seemingly unfazed at Maria's reaction, "I touched that damn obelisk which has a habit of turning things to stone, so I had Hunter…chop it off."

Maria didn't look any less confused than before, "Obelisk?"

Coulson decided to put a word in before the wires got too crossed, "I'll explain everything later, how about you get more acquainted with how things work around here."

Maria nodded, "Of course, sir. Not a problem."

She sent an awkward smile to Isabelle as she still felt bad for having such an unfortunate reaction to the hand shake, before leaving to return to the recovery room, giving Bobbi's shoulder a squeeze as she went.

This left Isabelle's focus on Bobbi once again, every fibre in her body wanting to reach out and hug the other woman but the look on Bobbi's face told her it may not be a good idea. Again, Coulson sensed the atmosphere and spoke up in a hope to diffuse it.

"I have somewhere where we should go and talk, follow me."

* * *

"This is where you had in mind?" Isabelle muttered upon finding herself in Coulson's office. Expanded and upgraded, of course, but it was still just Coulson's office.

"There aren't too many hotspots for privacy around here, Hartley. I'll leave you to talk through your business but we need to have our own conversation later, understood?" Coulson stated, not waiting for Isabelle's reply before striding out of the door.

Lance, Isabelle and Bobbi were left in the room, plunged into silence for what felt like a lifetime before Isabelle spoke again,

"It's obvious you guys don't feel like talking so much right now," She ignored Lance's scoff, "but I need to explain what happened and why I haven't shown my face before now. All I'd appreciate in return is for you to listen."

Lance shrugged and collapsed into a seat, "I'm all ears."

As Bobbi remained passive, Izzy jumped right in, "You know as much as the car crash, then the next thing _I _know is that I'm restrained in some lab, on my own most of the time but I was in and out of consciousness so much that I don't remember if what I saw was real or just an illusion. The first time I woke up, it was madness. So many people were standing around, analysing something – me, maybe. I'm sure there were other people tied up in that lab, too, because when I woke up again I had a conversation with a man who had been there a lot longer than I was. And it makes the fact that they let me go even more puzzling."

"So you're saying that some people captured you just to let you go completely unharmed?" Lance asked, incredulously. Izzy tilted her head to the side as she tried to find the right words to explain the unexplainable to Lance,

"Every night since they let me go, whatever they did haunts me each night. I know that everyone has their own reasons for nightmares when there are involved with S.H.I.E.L.D," She glanced over at Bobbi, "But 'completely unharmed' wouldn't be a phrase I use to describe the past few months."

Lance didn't need the explanation as he realised his question was insensitive to his friend anyway, but nodded in understanding. Bobbi finally broke out of her trance and spoke her first words since they entered Coulson's office,

"I'm sorry you went through that, Iz." She spoke so softly that if Izzy wasn't listening out for it, it would have remained unheard.

Izzy gave a half-shrug. As much as she wanted her friends to understand why she didn't come sprinting back to them straight after she was freed from the 'lab', she didn't want to make a big deal over her ordeal when she came here to help Bobbi get through hers.

"Seriously, Izzy," Bobbi raised her voice to a somewhat normal level, "I don't think I care too much about what happened before now, I'm just glad you're back."

Izzy couldn't help the short laugh of relief that Bobbi wasn't going to be her stubborn self today and strode forwards to lean down and grab Bobbi into a hug. The two forgot Lance was even in the room as he stood from his seat, heading for the door,

"Once you've finished your little reunion, come and find me because I personally want to hear the rest of this- Oh hey Simmons," Lance was met at the office door by Simmons who raised a hand to her heart in surprise.

"Hello, Lance. I am incredibly sorry for almost running over you but I have some news that I have been asked to share with you all," She announced, her words getting the attention of Bobbi and Izzy, "Skye told me that she and Mack will be bringing in Ward soon."

Izzy raised an eyebrow, "Oh really? Show me where, I would love to shake hands with the son of a-"

"Izzy no. He's not worth it right now. It won't help with you going in all guns blazing." Bobbi interrupted.

"Actually, I think it will."

Lance tried to intervene to give Bobbi a hand fighting her corner, "He really won't react to what you do or say, Izzy. Trust me, I tried, and all I realised was how much of a piece of evil he really is."

Even as Izzy seemed to consider this, her words didn't falter, "I'm not just going to let him walk by like he didn't do this," She vaguely gestured to Bobbi's wheelchair, causing Bobbi to look away in some embarrassment, "Simmons? After you."

* * *

…

**So, I've decided to never make promises ever again because **_**clearly**_** I can't keep them. Sorry to keep you waiting again. It's been a challenging start to this year and I haven't made time for writing, hence why I am updating this after a 3 month gap.**

**Anyway, the next chapter will see Izzy and Ward face off, as Bobbi continues her path to recovery.**

**Thanks for the reviews, follows, favourites and reads.**


	15. Chaos

Chapter 15 – Chaos

**Enjoy.**

* * *

Coulson returned to his office to find Lance, Bobbi and Izzy gone and May sitting on one of the chairs on the far side, staring into a space on the floor. Shutting the door behind him, he made his way over to stand in front of her and waited with his hands in his pockets for May to speak. She didn't.

This prompted Coulson to begin the conversation if he wanted to leave his office before nightfall, "What's on your mind?"

May still remained unmoving for a moment longer before she also stood and muttered, "Unfortunately, you."

The director wanted to be surprised and maybe even irritated, but couldn't find it in him as he thought back to the mystery of May's actions over the past 24 hours. He decided to test how angry May really was before he pried any further,

"Well, that's just rude. You can't come out with an answer like that and say nothing else." He jibed.

"Trust me, Phil. I have a lot to say. I just have enough self-restraint with you that I'm not letting you hear it all at once."

"Just tell me."

"Phil-"

"That's an order, now, May. This will have an impact on us finding whoever caused the accident because you can barely be around me without turning cold or you walk out of the room the second you get the chance. I understand it's your way of containing your thoughts but we need to sort this out now before it affects something out in the field." Coulson finished and waited again for May's reply.

She sighed shortly, glancing away before meeting Coulson's eyes and speaking, "I know you're still willing to drop the investigation."

Coulson squinted a bit as he tried to process what May had said. Did she not hear what he'd just told her? He didn't get the chance to question her before she carried on,

"I know we aren't detectives. I know we have other missions to do but this is part of something bigger, it was a planned attack on S.H.I.E.L.D, specifically this team. We still have to put all of our agents into this. If not for Bobbi's sake, but everyone at S.H.I.E.L.D."

"I'm not dropping the investigation. The whole point of this talk was to clear the air so we could focus on that." He insisted, but May was already shaking her head,

"Forgive me if I don't believe you, _Director_."

The silence that followed screamed in the air of betrayal and anger between the two of them.

* * *

Mack frowned in disappointment as Ward seemed perfectly willing to be under S.H.I.E.L.D's roof as he made no moves to escape Mack's hold on his shoulder as he was led towards his cell. Now that Coulson had found Ward, he didn't want to let him go despite the fact that he may not have been at fault for Bobbi's accident.

They'd made it down several corridors through the part of the base that had been used the least since they had moved in. There were multiple empty cell rooms – some better than others – however not one had served its purpose like this cell would. Just as Mack was about to have the satisfaction of throwing Ward into his cell, a hauntingly familiar voice called,

"Mack, wait."

He turned to see Izzy striding towards him and Ward with Simmons struggling to keep up behind her. He forgot about his hold on Ward as his hand fell to his side, causing Ward himself to see who was calling. His eyebrows raised in surprise but he was still able to form his words,

"Now this. This is resurrection. What did you do, Jemma? Make a clone of Isabelle Hartley and think that would work?"

Izzy stopped inches from Ward's face, her height not quite matching his but the fury in her made up for the height difference, "This is me in the flesh and blood and you're going to wish it weren't."

Ward shot back instantly, unfazed by Izzy's threat, "Or what? I'm valuable to S.H.I.E.L.D. I don't plan on giving any help if you plan on beating me to a pulp. You might want to think about what you say next."

"You don't affect me, Ward."

Mack decided to step in and pushed Ward into the cell so he could lock the door. Ward moved to the metal bars that allowed him to see through to the corridor. Mack looked like he had a million and one questions for Izzy, but she still had her eyes fixed on Ward.

"Tell me everything you know about who caused that damn accident," She demanded.

The prisoner practically scoffed at the demand and looked like he would have sat down and put his feet up if he could.

"No."

Something snapped inside Izzy and she lunged forwards towards the bars in fury, "You will tell me, or there's seriously no reason for you to be alive. I'm not a big fan on killing, but Bobbi's my sister."

Ward chuckled hauntingly once again, "You could do that, or," He paced around the cell a little to build up the tension that was already running high, "I have a few other truths that you may want to hear. About _you_. Because isn't the big question right now, what happened to Izzy Hartley? Right Mack?"

Mack looked to the ground immediately, feeling guilty for being curious of Izzy's whereabouts prior to returning to the base. He stole a glance at Izzy who looked more conflicted than he did by far.

"I know what happened to me, Ward." She said firmly, but there was an uncertain edge to her tone.

"All of it? I don't think so, I seem to remember you were quite out of it for the majority of your stay."

Izzy was itching to ask _where?,_ but she wouldn't allow herself to give in to Grant Ward so easily. It was clearly a mind game, but that still didn't stop every fibre of her body from wanting answers.

"Stop it, Ward." Mack spoke finally as he saw the effect of his words on Izzy as she went too quiet. Ward barely gave him a second look as he pressed Izzy further,

"So what's the verdict, Hartley? Is this a little deal we've got here? Because that would mean so much-"

Before he knew it, Izzy was kicking at the cell bars, then the door, and back to the doors again while shouting out in anger. She was so aggressive that Ward took a step back despite the extremely secure barrier between them. Mack tried to grab Izzy while Simmons double checked Ward's cell security on the wall panel, Mack tried to pull her away from the cell but she was fierce as she spat her words,

"You're pure evil! I know what happened to me, they changed me, and I'm over it! Don't try and feed me your lies. Tell me about the accident!"

"Izzy, stop!"

The voice came from down the corridor and it was Bobbi this time, trying to reach the other end of the corridor where Izzy was close to breaking through the pure metal of the cell to get to Ward, but not building a great pace with her inexperience in the wheelchair. In front of her, Maria was making her way to Mack and Izzy to try and help diffuse the situation. She got there in time to hear Ward make a comment about Izzy coming back from the dead as a crazed animal and decided to put her foot down.

"Mack, just pull her back," She spoke as if she'd been with the team for a lot longer than she had been. Maria faced Ward and spoke with as much conviction as she could muster, "I don't know you, I don't know your past – and you don't know mine – but I know that you have caused a lot of pain to these people who are now my co-workers and friends. I'm going to ask you nicely to shut up for a little while, okay? It's for your benefit as much as anyone else's. Please."

The nurse turned around to find Bobbi trying to communicate with Izzy who had just about calmed down, and the director had appeared, looking already displeased, but even more so after hearing the commotion that Izzy was causing so soon after re-joining the team.

"Mack, Simmons, Morse make yourselves scarce," He ignored Ward's presence as he ordered, "Hartley, Maria, my office now."

Bobbi tried to reason with him, "Sir, can we just-"

She stopped at seeing his expression of anger, one she'd not seen often, and wouldn't like to cross paths with much at this time. He repeated himself when the two didn't seem to be moving.

"I said _now_."

* * *

**Thanks for reading.**


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